Tony Gutierrez / AP

Jeff Gordon celebrates with in victory lane with a pair of pistols after winning the NASCAR Samsung 500 auto race Sunday.

What if Johnson had been able to pass Gordon, the teammate who owns his car?

“As a friend, I would have felt bad. As a competitor, I would have been excited,” Johnson said. “If I’m not going to win it, I want one of my teammates and especially one of my friends. As a friend, I’m definitely happy for Jeff.”

Johnson moved up two spots to second in season points, 162 behind Gordon before the series takes next weekend off for Easter.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took only right-side tires and went from 12th to first on a restart with 76 laps to go.

But Earnhardt quickly lost that lead between turns one and two when Kyle Busch, trying to regain a lost lap, got loose and bumped him. Earnhardt got pushed to the top of the track, allowing Gordon to charge ahead, and wound up sliding all the way to 20th.

Gordon was still holding the lead with 39 laps left when he got caught in traffic and Edwards slid under him into first. Tony Stewart got past Gordon a few laps later and that was the running order when Stremme spun out.

Greg Biffle finished third, followed by Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Edwards finished a spot ahead of polesitter David Reutimann.

Reutimann, driving a No. 00 Toyota for Michael Waltrip, didn’t even lead the first lap. Gordon did, passing him as they crossed the start-finish-line for the first time.

Gordon led six times for 105 laps in a race that featured 28 lead changes, nine more than any other Cup race this season and one short of the Texas record.

Gordon led the first seven laps, but gave up the lead because of some handling issues with his car. But he was never too far from the front, never out of the top 10.

Biffle, led three times for 93 laps and his Roush Fenway teammate Kenseth had three leads for 55 laps. With Edwards, Roush had three drivers in the top 10 following a three-race span where the team had only two top-10 finishes.