Johnson, Knaus take risk and trophy in Phoenix

Jimmie Johnson won Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 by taking a chance with fuel, giving Hendrick Motorsports its first win of the 2008 season.

Johnson, the defending Sprint Cup Series champion, claimed his second straight win at the Phoenix International Raceway, besting Clint Bowyer by just over seven seconds.

As their contenders felt they had no choice but to pit for fuel, Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, decided to keep his No. 48 Chevrolet on track.

"I'm shocked that I was able to save fuel running that hard up through the field,” Johnson said of the gamble. “I restarted in 14th on that last restart and drove to third on my own and then I got to the front and was able to manage some fuel. I just can't thank everyone at Hendrick for working so hard. Obviously we haven't had the start to the season that we wanted but these guys on this Lowe's team worked really hard  to give me a great Impala and now we did it tonight.”

Johnson saved plenty of fuel over the final 10 laps, as a nearly 20-second lead allowed him to tread lightly around Phoenix’s one-mile layout. After taking the checkered flag Johnson did burnouts on the frontstretch and began his Polish victory lap before finally running  out of fuel on the backstretch.

"We are back and we have all been working very hard to get back,” he said of finally getting Hendrick Motorsports its first win this season. “I couldn't be more proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. There isn't a group of people that work harder and I am so proud of my guys and everyone associated with the Lowe's team.”

Johnson led 120 of the 312 laps through the night. He took the lead for the final time on lap 302 while his competitors began their stops for fuel.

Second-place finisher Bowyer also elected to take a risk and not pit.

“It was a good call by (crew chief) Gil (Martin) to stay out,” Bowyer said. “But he told me from the get-go we were only three laps from making it all the way. I just sort of started saving it and saving my brakes more than anything.  So it just worked out for us today."

Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards were third and fourth. Three-time 2008 race winner Edwards had a long night, leading early only to struggle on pit road and fall a lap down.

There were eight caution flags throughout the event, including a nearly 10-minute red flag period for cleanup after Ryan Newman’s Dodge laid oil around the one-mile track after losing an engine.

The final caution flag of the night dropped on lap 230 after Kasey Kahne hit the wall. The caution period brought a round of pit stops leaving teams scrambling for the calculator as they tried to figure out a way to stretch their fuel run over the remaining 80 laps.

Mark Martin led a large portion of the final run, leading the way from laps 272-301. He dropped down pit road for fuel in the No. 8 Chevrolet, handing Johnson the lead. After his fuel stop, he finished fifth.

“We had such an incredible car,” Martin said. “I planned that run with 80 (laps) to go when we pitted. I said ‘can we go?’ and we were just sort of saving the gas and trying to be there. I guess there was some confusion on the figuring and they decided that we were going to have to come (down pit road).

“We changed our strategy right there at the end. I saved a lot of gas, probably a lot more than they knew. 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.”

Points leader Jeff Burton continued his run of consistency, finishing sixth and Johnson’s Hendrick teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was seventh after leading 87 laps.

Earnhardt, Martin, Johnson and pole-sitter Newman were the only race leaders throughout the event.

Martin Truex Jr., Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch closed out the top 10.

The original start time of the race was pushed back just over 15 minutes so the FOX Network could accommodate Major League Baseball and the rain-delayed Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees game. Just two outs away from a complete game, coverage switched over to sister station FX and coverage switched to the race, already underway, nearing completion of the first lap.

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