Johnson had the dominant car for the second straight race at Michigan International Speedway, only to run out of fuel while holding the lead late.
Johnson ran out of fuel with three laps remaining Sunday in the CARFAX 400 at MIS. Pole sitter Brian Vickers inherited the lead and gave Toyota its first victory at the two-mile superspeedway.
It was a big victory for Vickers, who is competing for one of the top 12 spots for the Chase to the Championship. It was his first victory in 87 races. His only other victory was at Talladega in October 2006.
Vickers moved up in points from 14th to 13th, and trails Mark Martin by 12 points for the final spot. Three races remain before the cut-off to the Chase, in which the top 12 drivers will run the final 10 races for the title. Martin, who was running sixth with 10 laps remaining, also ran out of fuel and finished 31st. The Detroit News
“I’m still sweating bullets,” Vickers said of surviving to reach victory lane. “When Jimmie ran out of gas, there was a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.”
At first, Vickers wasn’t certain that crew chief Ryan Pemberton had made the right call by not refuelling.
“We were either going to cost ourselves the chase, or we were going to win the race.” Canada.com
Gordon also gambled on fuel, but hung on for a second place finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had plenty of gas to go the distance, wound up third, while Carl Edwards and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top-five.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: CARFAX 400 at Michigan - Race Results
Johnson led the most laps with 134, but ended up finishing one lap down in 33rd. MiamiHerald.com
Although Johnson wasn’t happy after leading 279 of 400 possible laps in two Michigan races and not even finishing in the top 20 either time, Sunday’s gamble didn’t cost him much. He is third in the points and in good shape for NASCAR’s championship chase.
“Certainly frustrated,” Johnson said. “We’ve won one race on fuel mileage ever. It’s just what we’re not good at. I think it’s a little too risky for us to even try it.”
“Whenever we try to stretch it, it just never works,” crew chief Chad Knaus said. “And we’ve run out more times than not when we were trying to make it. In the chase we wouldn’t take a chance like this. We have luxury to do it right now.” The Associated Press
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