“I knew we had a great race car to begin the weekend,” Gordon said in victory lane. “At times, I didn’t think we had a winning car, but we played the strategy perfectly.”

Brad Keselowski, meanwhile, celebrated a 15th-place race finish — a 15th-place finish that garnered himself and his No. 2 Penske Racing team the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. The championship is the first for Keselowsk, crew chief Paul Wolfe and car owner Roger Penske.

“We were not as fast as we wanted to be. I’ll be the first to admit that,” Keselowski said. “But this team never gave up.”

Keselowski headed into the race with a 20-point cushion on second-place Jimmie Johnson. A 15th or better finish would guarantee the championship for the No. 2 team, even if Johnson led the most laps and won the race. Johnson led a few laps here and there, but his day began to go south during a green flag pit cycle that began with about 70 laps to go in the 267-lap race. A lug nut was left off on Johnson’s stop, so he had to make an extra trip down pit road.

Things did look like they were going to work themselves out for Johnson and his No. 48 team when it was determined that Johnson waited long enough in the cycle to pit that he’d be able to go the remaining distance with just one stop. Many others, including Keselowski, were going to have to make two.

But Johnson’s race went from bad to worse when he fell off the pace with 41 laps remaining. He headed down pit road and then to the garage to fix a rear end issue.

“Pretty heartbreaking, you know,” Johnson said. “We were doing what we needed to do. That’s racing; it happens.”

Johnson not only missed out on a sixth championship, he also gave up the second spot in points to Clint Bowyer, who finished the race in second.

Kyle Busch dominated much of the event, and in the late going, Martin Truex looked to be his strongest competition for the win, but both drivers had to make a late-race stop for fuel in the final laps, handing the top-two spots over to Gordon and Bowyer.

Ryan Newman finished third, Busch was fourth, and Greg Biffle finished fifth. Truex wound up sixth, Aric Almirola was seventh, Kevin Harvick eighth, Kurt Busch ninth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-10.

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Camping World Truck: James Buescher (11-point lead over Timothy Peters) must finish seventh or better to win the Truck Series championship, no matter how Peters fares. If Buescher leads a lap, he’ll also need to finish the race 8th or better. That requirement falls to ninth or better if Buescher is the race’s lap leader.

Nationwide Series: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (20-point lead over Elliott Sadler) must finish 16th or better to claim the title, even if Sadler leads the most laps or wins the race. If Stenhouse leads at least a lap, he’ll only have to finish 16th or better. He’ll clinch with a finish of 17th or better if he leads the most laps.

There’s a separate championship battle in the Nationwide Series for the owner’s championship. The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team (33 points ahead of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team) only needs to finish 28th or better on Saturday to claim the owner’s title for team owner Joe Gibbs. Joey Logano, a nine-time winner this year, will be behind the wheel. Logano has to finish only 29th or better if he leads a lap, or inside the top-30 if he leads the most laps.

Sprint Cup: Brad Keselowski (20-point lead on Jimmie Johnson) needs to finish 15th or better to lock up his first Sprint Cup, regardless of Johnson’s finish. If Keselowski leads a lap, he’ll need to finish 16th or better. If Keselowski leads the most laps, he’ll only need to finish 17th or better.

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– Amanda’s also on Twitter @NASCARexaminer and has a fan/like page on Facebook: NASCAR Examiner