MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Jeff Gordon was driving with tunnel vision when his car started vibrating. A green-flag pit stop to fix it put him more than three laps down at Martinsville Speedway.

It was early in the race, he figured, at a track where he's had lots of success and with a car capable of bringing him back into contention.

Gordon's faith paid off big in the Advance Auto Parts 500 on Sunday. He rallied to win in what became a huge emotional tribute to his team and car owner Rick Hendrick, and moved him closer to catching one of the sport's icons.

The victory, Gordon's 71st, moved him within five of Dale Earnhardt for sixth on NASCAR's career list, and was more special since it came in the first visit to Martinsville since a plane carrying members and friends of Hendrick Motorsports crashed last fall, killing all 10 people.

Hendrick, whose son Ricky was among those killed, was a surprise visitor to the track and hugged Gordon in Victory Lane.

"When you've got a guy like Rick Hendrick that you respect so much and you've seen what he's been through, the ups and downs through his life and especially here last year, for him to poke his head in there and say `Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,' and with that tremble in his voice, that impacts you," a choked-up Gordon said.

"When he popped his head in there, it hit me like a ton of bricks."

Gordon's advance toward Earnhardt also left him a bit surprised, though the way he won in some ways evoked memories of "The Intimidator."

Trailing Kurt Busch in the top five with 53 laps to go, Gordon got underneath him in turns three and four, nudged him just a bit and sent him slamming into the wall, removing the 2004 champion from contention.

"We were just two people fighting for one position and neither one of us wanted to give it up," Gordon said. He said he felt bad about it.

Then, fourth on a restart with 46 laps to go, he wasted no time.

He followed third-place Mark Martin past Ryan Newman for third on the 461st lap, went underneath Martin for second three laps later and caught and passed Sterling Marlin for the lead with 34 laps remaining.

Then, it was smooth sailing to the victory, his second in six races this year. It also was his sixth victory at .526-mile Martinsville, the shortest and trickiest track in the premier series.

Only Rusty Wallace, with seven, has more among active drivers.

Moving in on Earnhardt moved Gordon, too.

"That's unbelievable when I think about it," he said. "To do anything, coming close to anything that Dale Earnhardt accomplished is always something that means a lot to us as drivers and to me personally."

Gordon's last challenge was getting by an angry Busch at the end, which he did only after taking a few sideswipes on the front stretch.

"That was just showing my disappointment," Busch said of the banging.

Once Gordon got around Busch, he was gone, pulling away from Kasey Kahne on a restart with three laps to go and winning by .593 seconds.

Gordon's Chevrolet and Kahne's Dodge were followed across the line by Martin's Ford, Newman's Dodge and Marlin, also in a Dodge.

"You can't ever count out Jeff Gordon here," Kahne, who started 35th, said. "He's one of the best drivers ever at this track."

Kahne has finished second six times in 42 races, but has never won.

The race also a disappointing finish for the Joe Gibbs Racing tandem of Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart, who led for a combined 279 laps.

Labonte was leading when the race came out of a caution with 105 laps to go, but his car suddenly slowed and he faded quickly to mid-pack.

"We can't build a motor to go 250 laps right now," Labonte said. "Today, at least we were leading the race when it happened."

Stewart, who led four times for 247 of the first 389 laps, was running in the top five with 70 laps to go when his car suddenly slowed in the fourth turn. By the time he got into turn one, everyone found out why: his right front tire came off his Chevrolet and went bounding down the track.

Busch was next in the barrel. He was racing in the top five with 53 laps to go when Gordon nudged him in turns three and four, spinning Busch's Ford and sending it rear-end first into the outside wall.

In all, 16 cautions slowed the pace for 91 laps.

Jimmie Johnson, who finished eighth, remained the series points leader by 160 points over Greg Biffle, who was 29th. Elliott Sadler finished ninth and moved up two spots to third in the standings, 182 points back.