(HAMPTON, GA) -- A bizarre series of events in the final laps Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway gave Jimmie Johnson his eighth victory of the season and moved him within nine points of leader Jeff Gordon. "Jeff and his team today had some bad and a bad car and adjusted and fixed it and got back up to the front. There're not rolling and we're not giving up and it's going to be a great fight to the end," said Johnson. Gordon finished seventh. "All we can do right now is go out and put up the numbers and performance that we possibly can, really focused and concerned about right now is try and not have a bad day," said Gordon.

Carl Edwards finished second Sunday. He is just thankful the wacky end to the race gave him a break. "I mean in a lot of ways we didn't deserve to run second today with the way we performed, so it's a great day for us," said Edwards. He did little to gain on Gordon and Johnson, moving to fourth in the points but still 261 away from first.

(UPDATE) -- The Chase for the Nextel Cup moves into the final stretch Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Fifteen years ago, this is where current points leader Jeff Gordon had his first Cup Series start. Gordon has four Atlanta wins, the most of all Chase participants. "Atlanta is a good track for us and any top-five finish in my opinion right now is a good one," said Gordon.

Second ranked Jimmie Johnson sports two Atlanta victories. "If you can get comfortable running right around the wall, usually end up with a good finish," said Johnson.

Look out for fourth ranked Tony Stewart who is the defending race winner and has two AMS wins. "It always gives you confidence as a driver when you go back to tracks that you ran well at," said Stewart.

Fifth ranked Carl Edwards has also found success at AMS, but knows the car cannot be too loose. "When your into the corners so fast and there's bumps and thing, if the car isn't comfortable and easy to drive, it makes that place a nightmare," said Edwards.