TALLADEGA, Ala. — With a last lap pass of his teammate at Talladega Superspeedway, Jeff Gordon became NASCAR's all-time victory leader on restrictor-plate tracks.

His 12th win on Sunday moved him past the late Dale Earnhardt, but Gordon wasn't comfortable claiming the title as the best plate racer in NASCAR history.

"I'm blown away by that, to me (Earnhardt) was the man on restrictor plates," Gordon said. "I watched him do things and I knew they were cheating or something in his carburetor, and then I maybe pulled a couple of those moves throughout the years and I was like `Ahh, now I know what he was doing.'

"I was fortunate that my very first plate race, I was racing Dale in the Daytona 500. Even though I didn't have a chance to win it, I was there in the battle watching. The education started very early for me."

And he used it to win his fifth race of the season and move back on top of the points standings. He leads Johnson by nine points with six races remaining in the Chase for the championship.

Still, it was a bizarre way to do it by Gordon's standards.

Fears over the Car of Tomorrow's plate debut and former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve's first Nextel Cup event had the entire field concerned the race would be one big demolition derby.

So Gordon decided to avoid the mess by staying in the back, and found himself yawning in his race car for the first time in his career.

It was difficult for him to do. After all, you don't win four championships running parade laps at the back of the pack.

"It was the hardest race I've ever had to be in. I've never had that type of mind-set before," Gordon said. "It was tough because I don't like just going out there and riding in the back. I want to be out there battling for the lead and leading laps."

Gordon had a horrible qualifying effort — he started 34th — and it put him at the back, where he stayed. He then suffered a late-race setback when he pulled out of his pit with a hose hanging from his car, earning a pass-through penalty that seemed to take him out of contention.

Still, he sat back, resisting the urge to charge to the front.

"It was terrible, I am telling you that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in a race car," Gordon said. "I like to think that I have pretty good patience, but that's beyond patience.

"There's just nothing fun about that, but I knew it was the smart thing."

A master at working the draft, Gordon eventually marched toward the front and had moved into the top 15 as the race neared its completion. With six laps to go, he was in the middle of a Hendrick Motorsports charge that saw Johnson, Gordon and Casey Mears surge to the front of the pack.