For the second week in a row fuel mileage came into play in determining the finish of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and on Sunday it was Mark Martin who was in the right place at the right time. With a fast car, Martin was trailing Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle who were battling for the top-spot. Racing hard with laps ticking away, Johnson was able to slide past Biffle with both teams unsure whether or not they could make it on fuel. Coming to take the white flag Johnson's No. 48 sputtered and dropped to the inside of the track. Biffle assumed the top-spot heading into Turn One with Martin closing in. As the leaders headed onto the backstretch for the final time, Biffle began to shake the car to get all the fuel, but it was not enough as Martin dove to the inside and took the top-spot.
The No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet ran out of gas in Turn Four, but was able to coast home for his third victory of the 2009 season. Martin led only one lap the entire event, but it does not matter how many you lead as long as you lead the last. Entering the day one mark out of the top-12 in the standings, Sunday's win unofficially bumped the veteran up to eighth in points. With the top two cars dropping out of contention, Jeff Gordon was able to take advantage and come home with a second-place finish. Denny Hamlin put his bad luck behind him and capitalized to score a third. Despite struggling with the handling of the car for much of the afternoon, Carl Edwards called his fourth-place on Sunday a gift. After the intense battle for the lead in the closing laps, Biffle coasted across the finish line in the fifth-spot, while Jimmie Johnson finished 22nd, the last car on the lead lap. Johnson actually stopped on pit road, got fuel and crossed the finish line on pit road.
The race was slowed three time for cautions and featured eleven lead changes among six different drivers. Next weekend the series heads to the road course of Infineon for the Toyota/SaveMart 350. MORE NASCAR NEWS
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