Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle denied Jimmie Johnson his first Sprint Cup victory of the season and once again thwarted Rick Hendrick's bid for a 200th victory as a Sprint Cup owner.
It was Roush Fenway's fourth victory in the last nine Cup races at Texas and the team's record win on the 1.5-mile oval.
Johnson led a race-high 156 of 334 laps in coming up just short for a second consecutive race in trying to deliver the 200th win for Hendrick, which held the top three positions at Martinsville Speedway before a late caution negated a duel between Johnson and Gordon.
Despite winds gusting at 30 mph, the 334-lap race was free of major incidents. The last 234 laps were run under green as the race set Texas records for fewest yellow flags (two) and caution laps (10).
"I don't know what it is like to watch, but as a race car driver, that is neat to run the whole race."
The Penske Racing driver fell three spots in the standings to 15th.
Biffle, the sixth winner in seven races this year, last won a Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
The NASCAR weekend isn't done after the Sprint Cup race in Texas on Saturday night.
For the first time since 2004, NASCAR will race at Rockingham Speedway when the Camping World Truck Series runs there Sunday.
"I've always really liked the track," Cup driver Matt Kenseth said. "We won our first NASCAR race there ever, the Busch Series race in 1998, which was one of the most thrilling days in my racing life. NASCAR hasn't raced at what was then known as North Carolina Speedway since the track was sold in 2004 from International Speedway Corp. to Speedway Motorsports owner Bruton Smith. He then moved its race date to SMI-owned Texas Motor Speedway, ending Rockingham's run of 78 Cup races dating to 1965.
"It does take away opportunities to work on the race car," Johnson said. Trevor Bayne, his Nationwide teammate who raced in the Sprint Cup race Saturday night, also was helping.
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