It's so easy to get all misty-eyed.

Jeff Gordon outdueled Jimmie Johnson -- his teammate, friend, protege and nemesis -- to win the rain-delayed AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Since Johnson first roared into the NASCAR spotlight in 2002, the two have competed together in 352 Sprint Cup races. Johnson has won twice as many (54-27) and finished ahead of Gordon in 55.1 percent. Johnson has won five straight championships, and Gordon hasn't won any. His four all were before Johnson arrived.

When Johnson arrived, everything changed for Gordon. It's so tempting to proclaim, while awash in sentimentality, that happy days are here again.

They may be, but it's been 10 years since Gordon's fourth championship, and the Chase hasn't even started. He doesn't have Johnson on the ropes, and others have just as much a stake in dethroning the perennial champion.

No one has Johnson on the ropes. He's finished in the top 10 in five straight races, fourth or better in four of them and second in two of the last three. Oh, by the way, he's the points leader.

All of that having been noted, the Tuesday race, run at shortly after 11 a.m., with millions of fans at work and nestled in neither recliners nor grandstand seats, was a great memory for those who'll have one. In NASCAR, seldom has so much been witnessed by so few.

Gordon had that Jimmie Johnson Sinking Feeling and somehow managed to shake the fever. A winner of 85 races has been in a lot of parades, few of them on Tuesdays, and it appeared as if Johnson was going to rain on it. But Gordon held on, against all expectations, and it was a grand and righteous spectacle.

"Not too many people get to do that these days, and I didn't think I was going to be able to do it, either," said Gordon, and the "that" translated to "beating Jimmie Johnson."

Meanwhile, Johnson's hands were reportedly trembling when he climbed out of his car.

"Man, that is what racing is all about," he exclaimed "That was a lot of fun."

Gordon held on by his wits, for dear life, with all he had and by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin.

If he holds off Johnson for 11 more weeks, it'll be magic. If Johnson wins again, it'll be expected.