It seems the only thing standing in the way of Jeff Gordon and the 2007 Nextel Cup Series title is his own teammate – Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson passed Gordon with 44 laps to go and then held off Ryan Newman in a green-white checkered finish to win Sunday’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Raceway to notch his third-straight Martinsville victory and further tighten the points battle in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Gordon finished third, followed by Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth.

“It was a great day of racing,” said Johnson. “Green-white-checker shootouts really aren’t my strong suit, so I was happy to hang onto the victory.

“We had a great car, we certainly went up there and got the win today and that’s something I’m very proud of.”

Johnson led 147 laps en route to his seventh victory of the season and 30th of his career, and now trails Gordon by 53 points, looking for his second-straight title.

“This thing isn’t over yet,” Johnson said of the points battle. “This team certainly is strong enough to be a champion once again.”

Johnson and Gordon have combined to win eight of the last ten races at Martinsville. Gordon’s third–place showing was his sixth-straight top-5 finish at Martinsville.

“It didn’t wind up quite turn out the way we wanted to,” said Gordon. “Third place is great compared to where we were at one point in the race. The car was great on long runs, but we didn’t need all the cautions and short runs. I just couldn’t get going on the restarts and got real loose getting in (the corners) and that’s unfortunately why we ended up losing second as well.

“It’s still a good points day for us. Jimmie was tough, I didn’t really have anything for him.”

In a replay of the spring race here, Gordon and Johnson spent much of Sunday’s race battling for the top spot, combining with lame-duck Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch to lead 421 of the 506 laps.

Gordon started on the pole for the event and led the first 109 laps before Johnson took over the top spot. Gordon trailed Johnson for much of the race as the two got shuffled back in the pack during a round of pit stops.

As the race came to the mid-way point Gordon fell back but managed to stay in the top five as Kyle Busch came into the mix as well, swapping the lead with Johnson.

Following a round of pit stops on lap 342, Johnson and Gordon got past Busch and battled it out it out for the next 40 laps before the next caution waved. Gordon beat Newman and Johnson out of the pits and led the next 60 laps before Johnson squeezed by in the inside to take the lead for the final time.

Gordon hung onto second before Newman muscled his way past with what was supposed to be six laps to go.

A late caution on lap 496 set up a green-white-checkered finish with Johnson leading Newman and Gordon, but the overtime session was cut short after David Reagan spun to bring out the 21st and final caution to end the race.

“I know I would have had a shot at (Johnson) if the race stayed green,” said Newman. “I had my nose at his left rear tire at the start/finish line getting the white flag. He went into turn three and drifted up and over braked and got loose and drifted up and gave me an opportunity…but it just never happened.”

Denny Hamlin came home sixth, followed by Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick.

The top six in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings remain unchanged, as Bowyer trails Gordon and Johnson, followed by Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. Harvick is seventh, followed by Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. and Kenseth.

Results

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