BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Jeff Gordon fussed and even cussed as his car labored early in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

When it ended, he could smile with a third-place finish that has him atop the points standings heading into this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway.

Gordon took the points lead from Mark Martin, who sat out this race as part of his plan to run a partial schedule. Gordon leads Jeff Burton by three points.

Gordon, who started on the pole, quickly fell back. He was sixth by lap 50, 18th by lap 105 and fell back a few laps later to outside the top 20.

"We've got our hands full out here," Gordon radioed his team during a caution 122 laps into the race. "This is just killing me."

Gordon's team made changes, the car got better and he moved to the front. He was second before the final restart but lost a spot to Burton.

"Man, we made such great ground up throughout the day," he said. "It was certainly a lot of work."

Jarrett upset

Dale Jarrett left the track upset with Matt Kenseth after contact with Kenseth's car wrecked Jarrett early in Sunday's race.

"I was trying to pass Kyle Petty and get in under him and then Matt Kenseth just turned me going into the corner," Jarrett said. "It's not the first time, but it will be the last.

"Everyone has this great vision that Matt Kenseth is this nice guy on the race track. He is a nice guy away from the track, but he's a rough driver on the race track when he doesn't have to be. We'll have a discussion."

Tough luck

No Toyotas are in the top 35 in car owner points meaning all but Jarrett will have to qualify on speed at Martinsville. Jarrett has two champion's provisionals left.

The top 35 in car owner points are guaranteed a starting spot. Kasey Kahne and Jeff Green are tied for 34th, meaning both will make the field.

Among those who must qualify at Martinsville to make the race are Ward Burton, Dave Blaney, Brian Vickers, Ken Schrader, Mike Bliss, Paul Menard, Scott Riggs and Michael Waltrip.

Tough luck II

Tony Stewart led a race-high 257 laps before a fuel pump problem caused him to lose more than 20 laps. He finished 35th. Teammate Denny Hamlin suffered a similar problem late and placed 14th after leading 177 laps.

Rough debuts

Regan Smith finished 25th in his Cup debut, taking over the ride that Martin had for the season's first five races.

"I feel it was a huge accomplishment to finish," Smith said.

Martin is running a partial schedule this season and planned to skip Bristol and Martinsville, allowing Smith to open his season with those races.

Smith suffered a one-lap penalty on his first pit stop when he was stopped outside the pit box. Smith went from 18th to 39th after the penalty.

"I made a mistake on pit road and that pretty much killed our day from then on," he said. "I was barely over the line. Sometimes the official is lenient but he wasn't today."

Also, rookie A.J. Allmendinger finished 40th in his first Cup start. Jeremy Mayfield placed 34th in his first start of the season.

Strong run

Green's sixth-place finish was his best run since 2002.

"We know we can do this," he said.

"We just have to get out and do it and not get down on each other, and I think we have the last couple of weeks."

Pit stops

Kyle Busch's victory was the 600th Cup win for Chevrolet. It was the first win for the Impala model since the late Wendell Scott's factory model in December 1963. ... The next time the series returns to Bristol in August, the track will have a new concrete surface. ... Former car owner Cal Wells said he's in talks with sponsors and an ownership group to be part of a two-car effort next season. Wells said he hopes to have a deal done later this spring. He would be a minority owner in the team but run it.