[vincesanity82]

Mark Martin looked like he was going to ending his pesky, Sprint Cup non-winning streak at Phoenix International Raceway Saturday night, but a quick stop for fuel in the closing laps dropped him to fifth at the finish. Martin, driving the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet, led Laps 272 to 301 before diving to pit road for a sip of gas and two right side tires to finish the 312-lap race over the one-mile oval. Jimmie Johnson went to the lead when Martin pitted and eked out a gas-mileage victory. "We just about pulled this one off," said Martin, who lives in Daytona Beach. "We had a great, great car. We changed our strategy right there at the end." Martin said he may have had enough gas in the tank to go the distance, but the team played it safe rather than be sorry. "I saved a lot of gas, probably a lot more than they knew," he said. "We just had such a spectacular car there at the end of the race; I didn't have to run it hard. "There were a lot of laps I didn't get the throttle wide open on the straightaway. You can't stop if somebody else stays out. It is a privilege to drive for these guys. I want them to keep their chins up because we can win some of these races." -- Daytona Beach News-Journal



Racing news - newsjournalonline.com

[Racer Duck]

nah, it was the too long stop to put on 2 tires that killed his chance at the win. otherwise he would have come out in front of Denny Hamlin instead of 10 seconds behind him!!!