SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Juan Pablo Montoya ducks under Jimmie Johnson (48) to take the lead Sunday.

MARTINSVILLE -- While Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson get top billing from the TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon provided plenty of excitement of their own.

Gordon proved what makes him the savvy veteran that he is, while Montoya showed how much he has progressed in his first Chase.

The two battled throughout the race, mostly for top-5 positioning, combined to lead 73 laps, and ended up with Montoya in third and Gordon in fifth after starting side-by-side during the final restart.

Things were most noticeable around lap 107 when the two were beating and banging each other.

Gordon was less than pleased with Montoya because of the contact.

In fact, the two were so close and the racing so heated that after the race Gordon wondered what he had done to anger Montoya.

"He's an aggressive driver," Gordon said. "We've seen it from him before. I thought I did something to make him mad because I didn't understand why he was just driving into me for no reason.

"But hey, that is Martinsville. That's kind of the way he drives. And I just tried not to make him mad anymore and race him as clean as I could."

Montoya said he went to Gordon after the race and everything was fine.

He also explained exactly why it seemed he was so aggressive when trying to get around Gordon.

"It's just every time we've been around racing against him, he runs the hell out of me. He moved me out of the way before and he was starting to do the same here today," he said. "You know, I was running the outside of him, and every time he was just getting wider and wider.

"We're good. I talked to him afterwards. And it got to a point, it's like, 'Hey, I'm here, and you're not going to push me around.' ... If you give me room, I'll give you room. He wasn't giving me any, so I played the same game."

Montoya started the race in the 21st spot while Gordon started on the outside pole.

Montoya then started making up ground at a feverish pace.

Gordon had the lead from lap 49 to 58 before Johnson took it away.

Then, Montoya made his way behind Gordon and the battle ensued until Montoya got the advantage and went on to pass Johnson for the lead on lap 141.

As for being more aggressive, Montoya was pretty dismissive of that notion.

"No, when people are clean with you, you're going to be clean with them," he said. "When they race the hell out of you, you're going to do the same.

"That's what it is. But you're going to be ... beating it, banging it and hitting it and getting hit. It's part of the deal. It's fun."

The finish was clean between the two, however, and one of the best battles on the track had come to a fittingly close end.

"Right at the end we ran together and he gave me room and I gave him room," Montoya said. "I mean, you can do it. It's just you've got to be -- sometimes you've got to set a precedent so people back off a little."

Montoya's not backing off though. He moved up to fifth in the points standings after the finish. Gordon is in third.