After 23 laps....the top 5 are David Reutimann, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

Rough start for Jeff Gordon. He jumped out the lead briefly but his car became way too loose. Gordon, looking for his first TMS victory, has fallen to 5th.

Watch out for Tony Stewart today. He is climbing toward the front. Stewart started 7th.

Stewart passed Menard and takes 3rd.

Reutimann has a 2.5 second lead over Kenseth.

For all you Earnhardt Jr. fans....he's in 12th after starting 20th.

Mike Bliss to the pits.

Bliss headed to the garage. Couldn't fix his right rear issue.

Carl Edwards, who is going for his 3rd consecutive victory at TMS, is in 12th. He started 13th. Earnhardt Jr. is now in 11th.

Kenseth putting a push on leader Reutimann.

Matt Kenseth takes lead coming out of Turn 1 on David Reutimann.

After 50 laps....the top 5 -- Kenseth, Reutimann, Stewart, Menard and Kyle Busch.

Jeff Gordon pits, four-tire stop.

Most of the leaders on pit road.

Drivers are fighting winds and gusts up to 35 mph today.

Carl Edwards up to 8th. Dale Jr. is 11th...Three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson is 16th.

Tony Stewart has moved up to 2nd. David Reutimann in third.

Jeff Gordon is fighting a tight and loose car and has dropped back to 6th after 84 laps.

This is currently the longest green-flag stretch to open a race in TMS history.

Stewart is the new leader followed by Kenseth, Biffle and Reutimann....Dale Jr. has fallen back to 17th. ... Kyle Busch is 11th.

First Caution.....debris on the backstretch.

The race started with 97 green-flag laps. The leaders are headed to the pits.

Roush Fenway Racing cars are now in the top two spots with Kenseth and Biffle.

The dignitaries highlighting the pre-race ceremonies prior to the Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race:

Intro Grand Marshal:  “Gentleman Start Your Engines” Finalist, Mark Fredde

Intro Honorary Starter:  Kevin Packingham, Sprint Senior Vice President of Product

Intro to Colors:  3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Ft. Hood, TX

Invocation:  Dr. Roger Marsh, Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries

National Anthem:  Pianist Lewis Warren Jr. from Irving, TX

Fly-By TOT:  F-5’s VFC 111 “The Sundowners”

Roush drivers occupy four of the top 7 spots right now after 108 of 334 laps.

Carl Edwards running 5th....Kyle Busch was forced to a green-flag pit and fell a lap down in 37th.

Another lead change....Biffle takes the lead from Kenseth. Looks like a Roush car will likely be headed to Victory Lane.

Dale Jr. has been running high in the turns all race and gets an impressive push into the straightaways. He's in 14th.

Jeff Gordon just moved into second and passed Matt Kenseth. Apparently Gordon's car has made the adjustments from his struggles with handling early in the race.

Top 5 after 143 laps....Biffle, Gordon, Stewart, Kenseth and Reutimann.

Kurt Busch is telling his team that the winds are giving him trouble. The gusts are up to 35 mph. Busch is currently 9th....There are 23 cars on the lead lap.

Kenseth green-flag pit...

Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle to pit road. Gordon did not pit and takes the lead.

Penalty on Kyle Busch for going to fast on pit road.

Second caution....Elliott Sadler got loose on the frontstretch and slid across the infield grass.

Reutimann pitted out of the box and was hit with a one lap penalty. Bad break for the pole sitter.

Reutimann pitted outside of the pit box drawing the penalty.

Reutimann falls back to 28th.

Re-start....leader is Greg Biffle followed by Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon.

There are 18 cars on the lead lap.

David Ragan running 5th....Carl Edwards in 7th and Juan Pablo Montoya is 9th.

After 195 laps....top 5 are Biffle, Kenseth, Stewart, Gordon and Ragan....Crowd today is an estimated 176,300.

Green flag pit for Matt Kenseth.

The leader Greg Biffle to pits.

Now there's a convoy to pit road. Tony Stewart also has come in....A.J. Allmendinger's No. 44 stalled in the middle of pit road and had to be pushed back to his pit stall.

Allmendinger's car is now being pushed behind the wall.

Third caution....Marcos Ambrose with trouble and headed behind the wall. His car was smoking come out of Turn 4.

Some of the lead lap cars pitted again under caution....221 of 334 laps have been completed.

Dale Jr. headed back to pits because of a missing lug nut. Not good.

Race reset....Jeff Gordon is the new leader. Could he finally tame Texas? Matt Kenseth is second followed by Mark Martin and David Ragan.

Caution...Crash....Sam Hornish went sideways in Turn 2 and got into Bobby Labonte.

Top-5 reset after the caution...

1. Gordon

2. Kenseth

3. Martin

4. Ragan

5. Stewart

Kyle Busch is behind leader Jeff Gordon but he's two laps down....Busch not having a day anything like yesterday when he dominated the Nationwide Series race.

Gordon has a two-second lead on Kenseth....How about Mark Martin? Not in contention most of the day but he is there now running 3rd.

where is national guard car

Caution....Robby Gordon blown engine and headed to garage. Cars on the lead lap headed to pit road.

Fans along the frontstretch went crazy cheering for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he won the race off pit road and is the new leader.

There have been 23 lead changes -- the most in a Sprint Cup race this season.

76 laps...Kyle Busch's car got loose and bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr. going into Turn 2 and off the lead on the re-start.

New top 5...

1. Gordon

2. Vickers

3. Edwards

4. Stewart

5. Ragan

Earnhardt Jr. now in 7th place and Jimmie Johnson in 8th. Johnson has not been a factor today.

Mark Martin has jumped back into the top 5 passing Brian Vickers. Hasn't been a very good start to the season by Martin but he is coming off two top-10 finishes on short tracks at Bristol and Martinsville.

Here comes Carl Edwards. He has moved into second and now trying to chase down points leader Jeff Gordon. There are 64 laps to go.

how many fans are at the race today?

Lap 277 of 334....

Top 5

1. Gordon

2. Edwards

3. Stewart

4. Ragan

5. Martin

6. J. Johnson

7. Earnhardt Jr.

Estimated 176,300.

Gordon has less than a half-second lead on Edwards. Stewart making up some ground in third.

Earnhardt Jr. in the pits again. Seems likes he's been in the pits more than on the track.

Edwards has taken the lead from Jeff Gordon on lap 294...40 laps to go and Edwards goes for three consecutive at TMS.

Stewart has moved into second place passing Gordon, who falls to third....Jimmie Johnson up to 5th.

Hendrick Motorsports now dominating up front with Gordon (3rd), Martin (4th) and Johnson (5th).

Caution....David Stremme spins out....first lap of caution is Lap 305.

All the leaders pit and Gordon wins the race off pit road.

There are just 25 laps to go...

Top 5...

1. Gordon

2. Johnson

3. Stewart

4. Kenseth

5. Biffle

Gordon is blowing is way out front and just ran the fastest lap of the race by any driver....Gordon's pit crew helped get him in this position winning the race off pit road....21 laps to go.

Not sure Gordon can be caught -- he is flying. The rest of the field can only hope for a caution. He leads Jimmie by 1.5 seconds.

Gordon has been in a draught -- a bad one. He hasn't won in 47 consecutive races since 2007 at Charlotte. Gordon has also never won at Texas. That might soon change.

Gordon now has a 1.7 second lead over teammate Johnson....10 laps to go.

5 laps to go...Gordon, Jimmie, Stewart, Biffle and Kenseth are the top 5.....Jimmie started to close in on Gordon.

Two to go...Gordon looks like he will hold off Johnson. Biffle moves to third.

JEFF GORDON --- RACE WINNER.....Gordon finally earns his first ever victory at Texas Motor Speedway.

Hi

I think yall   need to have an night time nascar race in Texas

Hi

I think there need's to be an night time nascar race in Texas.

great win by gordon!

i hope he can finish business in phoenix in 2 weeks

My addrenaline is still pumping from yestruday....I am so excited for Jeff and the whole Dupont team.

Well, where is JR?  This was his track, he has THE team, and now what?????  C'mon JR, let's get back on the ball.

that was a great win by gordon

hey JR nation....your driver ain't all that good....better start rooting for Kyle Busch