Gordon in the hunt after latest triumph

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Jeff Gordon shook off his recent slump and revived his bid for a fifth Winston Cup title Sunday, pulling away from a late red-flag restart to win a crash-filled Protection One 400.

But for now, at least, the points lead belongs to Gordon's teammate, rookie Jimmie Johnson.

Gordon, who also won last year's inaugural Winston Cup event at Kansas Speedway, snapped a three-week string of frustration in which he finished 40th, 14th and 37th after back-to-back wins in the two races before that.

"I kind of put my foot in my mouth last week and said we had to win," Gordon said. "Luckily, I was able to back that up."

Gordon led the last 57 laps and 116 laps overall in the 267-lap, 400-mile race and appeared headed for an easy victory until Johnny Benson, Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmy Spencer and Ricky Rudd spun out in the fourth turn with five laps left. The rest of the field parked in the second turn for more than 13 minutes -- in 92-degree heat -- before starting up again.

"I knew they were going to throw the red flag, but I didn't realize how hot it was over there," Gordon said. "I'm completely exhausted."

Gordon handily held off rookie Ryan Newman on the restart with three laps to go. Rusty Wallace was third, Joe Nemechek fourth and Bill Elliott fifth.

"We're here to race, and I commend them for wanting to finish the race under green," Newman said. "When you're trying to win a race, you can put the heat aside for a few minutes."

Johnson's 10th-place finish gave him an 11-point lead over Martin, who came in leading by 30 points but lost his engine with 17 laps to go and finished 25th.

Stewart stayed in third place but moved up from 44 to 36 points down, and Gordon moved up a spot to fourth, 109 points back of the rookie.

U.S. Grand Prix: Rubens Barrichello won the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis when Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher slowed on the final lap and appeared to let him pass at the finish.

It was the opposite of the finish May 12 in Austria, where Barrichello -- obeying team orders -- allowed Schumacher by on the final straightaway for the victory. At the time, Schumacher had yet to clinch his fifth Formula One title.

This time, the two red cars were side-by-side as they crossed the yard of bricks that designate the finish line on the oval portion of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Barrichello led by 0.01 seconds, one of the closest margins in Formula One history.

--From wire reports