Gordon reigns amid ugly scenes at Talladega.

It wasn't the result that the tens of thousands of Dale Earnhardt fans had wanted but very few could deny that Jeff Gordon had the strongest car for much of the day as he drove to his second Cup Series win in two weeks in the Aaron's 499.

On what would have been the late Dale Earnhardt's 56th birthday and at the track where he scored a record ten Cup Series victories including his 76th and last just six months before his untimely passing, Gordon took the chequered flag behind the pace car for his 77th career win after a 'green-white-chequered' flag finish ended under caution following two separate crashes half way around the restart lap.

Much of the dismay of more than 100,000 'old-school' NASCAR fans, who worshipped 'The Intimidator' and despised Gordon in equal amounts, Gordon was in front at the time of the eighth and final yellow flag and only had to tour around the final lap of the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway behind the pace car to claim his second win of the year and increase his overall championship advantage.

Sadly for Gordon, who led a race-high 72 laps and was never far from the front of the pack in what had been an excellent race until a lap 183 caution period for David Reutimann's expiring car spoiled what was building towards a thrilling crescendo, the fact that his last lap and a half was at a greatly reduced pace made his #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet an easy target for those fans upset and angry at not only missing a green flag finish but also witnessing a win for their heroes former foe.

Despite a pre-race warning from the circuit owner, many fans pelted the track with beer cans, leading to some unpleasant scenes as police officers carried out their earlier threats to arrest anyone seen throwing debris onto the track. Gordon's car, like many others, was struck several times by various bits of detritus and it was an unfortunate end to what had been an excellent afternoon of racing as Talladega's newly resurfaced layout proved a big hit with the drivers.

The race began with poleman Gordon surging into an early lead, trading top spot with veteran Sterling Marlin and his Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson as the field battled three and four wide all the way around the circuit. With no sign of an early accident the first round of pitstops took place under green flag conditions, a situation that caught out Tony Stewart, who was caught speeding on pit road and had to serve a drive through penalty, leaving him a lap down in 38th position.

Close racing aside, the main early race issues surrounded mechanical longevity, as Paul Menard, Robby Gordon, Carl Edwards and Dale Jarrett all retired inside the first 50 laps with mainly engine related maladies. In fact the first caution flag of the day didn't wave until lap 72, by which time Denny Hamlin had traded the lead with Gordon several times.

The second round of stops saw problems for Jimmie Johnson, who stalled and lost a bunch of positions although it did give Stewart a chance to regain his place on the lead lap. However it wasn't long before the caution flag was out again as Clint Bowyer lost a tyre and became the first driver to really test the Talladega barriers in turn four. With many drivers choosing to top up with fuel, Kurt Busch briefly assumed the lead before the crowd went wild on lap 85 as their man Dale Earnhardt Jr surged ahead for the first time.

Earnhardt Jr's lead lasted but a lap before Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears, Matt Kenseth and eventually Gordon took turns at heading the field prior to the third caution flag of the day on lap 124.

With drivers contemplating another green flag fuel stop, a miscommunication in the Hendrick camp saw Johnson tap Mears into a spin coming off turn four with Mears making hard contact with the inside wall. This brought nearly everyone to pit road with Kenny Wallace now assuming the lead.

Green flag racing lasted less than two laps on the restart though, as Tony Raines nudged Ricky Rudd into Johnson coming off turn two on lap 130 triggering the biggest crash of the day as Joe Nemechek found himself turned round by his Ginn Racing teammate Marlin straight into the path of Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton. Busch suffered his second major impact in as many days while Burton's car also received heavy damage. Johnson had to pit to repair some superficial damage but was otherwise fine and remained on the lead lap.

Once again pitstop strategy came into play and it was Elliott Sadler who assumed the lead on the restart only to be passed by Hamlin, who then led the only portion of the race where single file racing was the norm. With everyone mindful of their fuel mileage the race briefly settled down as Hamlin led unchallenged through another caution flag for Juan Montoya's brush with the turn one wall that crucially saw most of the field, but not Hamlin, pit for the final time.

Hamlin continued to hold the lead through the sixth caution period of the day for some more debris before finally losing out to Jamie McMurray on lap 183. The final laps were building nicely until Reutimann's Toyota engine expired on lap 183, bringing out the caution flag and taking the race into overtime. Just as Reutimann's engine blew, Gordon past McMurray for the lead in a move that would win him the race.

Such was the fuel situation that several drivers, Hamlin included, had to pit for fuel under caution leaving McMurray, Johnson and Busch as Gordon's closest competition for the two lap restart.

When the green flag waved both Johnson and Busch jumped McMurray for second but as the field came off turn two Greg Biffle and Johnny Sauter came together forcing Kenny Wallace to spin and bringing out the race ending caution period. Just ahead of the initial crash a struggling McMurray appeared to tap David Gilliland into the side of Stewart, who had worked his way back into the top five from 38th, damaging both cars. Gilliland's momentum then carried him into the back of Stewart a second time, pitching the #20 Chevrolet into the inside wall on the back straight and resulting in Stewart making some unsavoury gestures towards McMurray as the field toured by behind the pace car.

While Stewart's mood couldn't have been much darker, Gordon shrugged off the fans reaction in victory lane as news filtered through that thanks to Burton's earlier mishap he now holds an overall championship lead of more than 200 points.

Johnson also kept up his championship challenge with second place while Busch took third for Roger Penske. Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick emerged from nowhere to take fourth place at the death with McMurray completing the top five and Ryan Newman rounding out the top half dozen finishers.

Gilliland stayed on track to claim seventh with Earnhardt Jr only eighth after all but running out of fuel in the closing laps. David Stremme took ninth and Martin Truex Jr completed the top ten.

Kasey Kahne enjoyed a rare trouble free run to take 12th with Matt Kenseth 14th, Hamlin a disappointed 21st, Stewart an angry 27th and Juan Montoya 31st after spending five laps on pit road getting repairs following his brush with the wall.

The Nextel Cup brigade now have less than a week to dust off the scrapes and get their Cars of Tomorrow out of the workshop before the next round of the championship on Saturday night at Richmond.