The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jeff Gordon was able to pass Kevin Harvick for the top spot during the final round of pit stops in the 5-hour Energy 400 at Kansas Speedway Saturday night.

Gordon then held off a hard-charging No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick in the final laps to claim his first win of the season. Harvick mustered a remarkable push on the final lap, tearing apart Gordon’s one second advantage, but needed a couple more car lengths to get the job done. Behind them, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne was third.

“I knew we had a fast race car,” Gordon said. “We’ve had fast cars all year.”

Harvick dominated the first half of the race, leading 90 laps by the time the fourth caution flew on lap 110. Harvick, among others, pitted under green just a few laps prior to the yellow flag, and, therefore, found themselves mired deep in the field.

As Harvick worked his way back towards the front, drivers such as Kahne and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Joey Logano spent time up front. Despite battling a clutch issue in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson ran strong in the final 100 laps. Logano took the lead from Johnson, but ‘Six-Time’ was able to remain close.. He did give up his track position though, when he headed down pit road during a caution with 65 laps remaining, as the other front-runners stayed out.

Harvick was among those who opted not to pit and soon returned to the lead. He was still the man everyone was chasing as the final green-flag cycle got underway, but in the process of pitting, lost ground to Gordon.

“In the end, I ran out of gas coming down pit road,” Harvick said. “I found a groove that worked for me. Got loose with about 10 to go and lost the ground I made up, but I got it back.”

As Harvick gained ground in the final laps, Gordon grew a little concerned.

“Kevin was tough,” Gordon said. “He had a really fast car. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold him off.”

After that caution, the yellow flag was retired for the night, necessitating one last green-flag stop for everyone, including Johnson. When others began hitting pit road with about 30 to go, Johnson was able to stay out and lead several laps before finally stopping for the last time. Keselowski was the final car to duck down to pit road, giving up the top spot with just eight laps remaining.

Logano finished fourth, and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five. The No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Carl Edwards was sixth, and Danica Patrick scored a career-best seventh-place finish in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford of Aric Almirola was eighth, Johnson ninth, and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Matt Kenseth finished a respectable 10th.

There were two major crashes during the race, but nothing could hold a candle to the breath-taking collision between Justin Allgaier and David Gilliland. Both drivers were able to walk away from the smoldering pieces of sheet metal and carbon fiber that used to be their cars after the violent impact.

Results - 267 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet       3h07m31.000s
 2.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +0.112s
 3.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           +10.851s
 4.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  +11.344s
 5.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           +12.359s
 6.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            +13.273s
 7.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +13.628s
 8.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   +15.539s
 9.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           +15.989s
10.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             +19.126s
11.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet          +20.603s
12.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet            +24.520s
13.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  +25.616s
14.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               +28.097s
15.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             +29.623s
16.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            +30.018s
17.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet            +1 lap
18.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota               +1 lap
19.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet            +1 lap
20.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet         +1 lap
21.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet        +1 lap
22.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford             +2 laps
23.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                +3 laps
24.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                    +3 laps
25.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet             +3 laps
26.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             +3 laps
27.  Ryan Blaney         Penske Ford                   +4 laps
28.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                     +4 laps
29.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +4 laps
30.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet       +4 laps
31.  Joe Nemechek        Robinson Toyota               +5 laps
32.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet             +6 laps
33.  Josh Wise           Parsons Ford                  +6 laps
34.  Travis Kvapil       FAS Lane Ford                 +9 laps
35.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                    +10 laps

Retirements:

     Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet             186 laps
     David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               184 laps
     David Ragan         Front Row Ford               171 laps*
     Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet            149 laps
     Timmy Hill          Circle Sport Chevrolet       137 laps
     JJ Yeley            Xxxtreme Toyota              136 laps
     Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet             63 laps
     Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                     57 laps

* Running again at chequered flag