updated 3:18 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The last person Jeff Gordon expected to see ahead of him in a furious finish to the Daytona 500 was Dale Earnhardt Jr. When he did, “I thought it was over, done,” Gordon said.

As it turned out, Earnhardt found just enough speed to scare Gordon, not to beat him.

Gordon grabbed the lead from Earnhardt three laps from the scheduled end, then held off Kurt Busch and Earnhardt in extra laps Sunday to become only the fifth driver to win three Daytonas.

It was one of the wildest finishes in the 47-year history of NASCAR’s biggest race. There were four lead changes in the last nine laps and two crashes involving a total of 17 cars in the last 20 laps.

Earnhardt, the defending champion, came from 30th with less than 100 miles to go to grab a late lead, only to see Gordon pass him seconds before a caution flag waved on the 198th of the scheduled 200 laps.

FREE VIDEO Battle to end Feb. 20: Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about his narrow defeat, and Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson also discuss the race. NBC Sports

The race went three extra laps to finish under a green flag, and Gordon hung on to beat Busch by two car lengths.

“Oh, my goodness, what an amazing day,” a jubilant Gordon said. “Three, baby!”

Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion, joins Richard Petty (7), Cale Yarborough (4) and Bobby Allison and Dale Jarrett (3) with three or more Daytona victories.

Gordon first won it in 1997 and again in 1999.

“This one’s sweeter than the other two,” he said. “It was an amazing finish.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick, who lost his son, brother, two nieces and several key team officials among 10 people killed last October when a company plane crashed, was in Victory Lane with Gordon.

The winner dedicated the victory to the families of those killed in a crash.

“You know they’re looking down smiling. It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.

Tony Stewart dominated the race for a second straight year, leading 107 laps, and was well on the way to his first 500 win before a rash of late caution flags set up the dramatic ending.

Earnhardt, who struggled with handling through most of the race and had not led a lap, was second, hugging Stewart’s rear bumper, when he suddenly dove to the outside, just in front of Gordon and charged past the leader to grab the top spot on the 197th lap.

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“I was real, real happy,” Earnhardt said. “I’m telling you, man, the car was way, way off. It was hard. It was amazing the difference between the car (at the end) and maybe 50 laps before then. I mean, it was really fast.”

When Earnhardt charged to the lead, Gordon thought the race was over.

“I thought maybe Junior was having engine problems or handling problems. Then he flipped a switch there at the end. I was like, ‘Oh, here he is.’

“I didn’t even think we could get up beside him, let alone pass him.”

Gordon finally pulled alongside Earnhardt and nosed ahead just moments before the 11th yellow flag of the race froze the field.

On the restart on lap 202, Busch, the defending Nextel Cup champion, drove his Ford past Earnhardt on the outside but couldn’t get close enough to Gordon for a real challenge as Earnhardt battled to hold off Jimmie Johnson for third.

“I wanted to take Gordon on the outside, but nobody would have went with us,” Busch said. “I had to follow him because there’s only so much you can do if you don’t have anybody behind you.”

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