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A fuel-mileage finish? A memorable heart-thumper? Epic? Euphoric? Heartbreaking? Fraught with twists, surprises and subplots?
Yes, indeedee. Sunday’s LifeLock 400 may have been the Sprint Cup tour’s second straight fuel-mileage race, but this was vastly more entertaining than the one last week at Pocono.
This was as suspenseful as any fender-slamming dogfight.
Mark Martin, who inherited victory after Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle ran out of gas from dueling, ran out himself coming off the final turn but was able to coast to the checkered flag.
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“Usually they’re not very exciting and don’t wind up making a big show,” Martin said of fuel-mileage races. “I think the fans really got a great show here. You got two guys wrestling for the win [Johnson and Biffle], which is what everybody wants to see.”
“And then a surprise winner coming out of it. A lot of drama.”
Second-place Jeff Gordon agreed that “typically when you think fuel-mileage race, you think boring. This was not a boring race. It made for great entertainment, and that’s what we’re here for.” ESPN
Martin didn’t get excited as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson passed him on Lap 179 and battled Biffle until he took the top position 16 laps later. Instead, Martin waited patiently in third place, conserving fuel and staying in contact with crew chief Alan Gustafson to adjust the strategy as the laps wound down.
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He knew that leader Johnson and HMS rival Jeff Gordon, two positions behind him, were getting fuel mileage equal to the No. 5 car, so Martin just stayed the course. With one lap remaining, Johnson ran out of gas at the line and Biffle assumed the point only to suffer a similar fate on the backstretch. With a half-lap separating Martin from his third trophy of the season and 38th of his Cup career, he babied his car down the backstretch through Turn 3 and coasted out of Turn 4 on fumes for his fifth win at the 2-mile speedway.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: LifeLock 400 at Michigan - Race Results
“Winning with a surprise, for some reason it’s always one of the most fun,” said Martin, who was finally able to enjoy a win with his boss Rick Hendrick and wife Arlene by his side. “Everybody knows that we have had some horrendous luck this year. It’s put us pretty far back.
“We had a great race car. But for me, I always, always come up short on the gas-mileage thing. I always have. If you look at the stats, you know, I’ve lost 25 and won two probably on it. You know, I just don’t have the luck for it.”
Biffle, who finished fifth and remained seventh in the standings, adopted a similar strategy to the No. 48 team. Johnson surprised Biffle by racing to win rather than nursing his fuel.
“He made me use too much gas,” Johnson said. “We cat-and-moused and the No. 5 won. If I wasn’t conserving, the No. 48 wouldn’t have won. If I would have stuck to my program, I would have had plenty.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick marvels at his fellow 50-something driver and called Martin “an inspiration and motivation” to the entire organization. He invited the media “to take a good look at (Martin),” who endured 400 miles of racing while fighting electrical gremlins and 42 competitors without cooling in the car and “gets out like he hasn’t run five laps.”
Second-place Gordon echoed Hendrick’s sentiments and likened Martin to “a 21-year-old with a lot of experience under his belt and that’s tough to beat.” FOXSports.com
Denny Hamlin came in third, while Carl Edwards was fourth. Biffle managed to coast home fifth.
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It’s the second time a Hendrick driver has won a fuel mileage race at Michigan. One year ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran the final 54 laps without refueling. Earnhardt Jr. had just enough gas to hold off Kasey Kahne in a two-lap overtime finish before his car stalled on the cool-down lap. He snapped a 76-race winless streak, but has not scored a victory since then.
Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th in this year’s race.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer completed the top-10. MiamiHerald.com
