The Associated Press

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Jeff Gordon said winning the pole at Watkins Glens International was half the battle. He was so right.

The four-time Winston Cup champion, hoping to make up valuable ground on points leader Matt Kenseth, watched as his chances of another title more or less vanished in a cloud of gas fumes at the close of the Sirius at The Glen.

Gordon's roller-coaster began on the first turn. By the time the dust cleared, he had been spun out by rookie Greg Biffle and was at the back of the 43-car field.

"I don't know what happened," Gordon said. "I got a great jump. It's the first lap. There's no reason to blast the thing down in there, but he just blasted me."

Gordon, winner of four of the previous six Winston Cup races at The Glen, spent the rest of the 90-lap race playing catchup. He made it all the way back to third with less than 10 laps to go, then ran out of gas on the final lap and was hit from behind, first by third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr., then by Kevin Harvick, and spun out about 200 feet from the finish line.

"I ran into the back of him and tried not to kill him," Earnhardt said. "You run out of gas, you're not going to block me all the way around the track."

"Man, what a long, hot day it was after that (first lap)," said Gordon, who finished 33rd. "I didn't think we could get up to where we did ... We've got to figure out this fuel mileage thing. We've got to be able to make it to the end."

That might have happened if not for Harvick, who rammed Gordon.

"He pulled right up in the groove and I hit him twice, and the second time he spun out," said Harvick. "I hate that it happened."

Biffle, who apologized over his radio immediately after hitting Gordon, and Harvick were called into the NASCAR trailer after the race.

"They just ran all over the back of me," said Gordon. "It stinks that I ran out of fuel and the car stopped, but all they had to do was drive right by me. But I shouldn't blame him. It's our own fault."