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Fuelish pleasure Johnson wins fuel mileage game in New England 300Posted: Sunday July 20, 2003 7:11 PMUpdated: Monday July 21, 2003 12:36 PM
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson was ecstatic after his win at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon, his boss, teammate and friend, was crushed. That's just the way racing goes sometimes. Johnson and his crew made the right pit strategy calls Sunday to win the New England 300. Gordon made the wrong decisions and dropped 234 points behind Matt Kenseth in the race for the Winston Cup championship. "I'm happy for Jimmie, but I'm just so devastated in our own performance right now," Gordon said after his 24th-place finish. "It's not the points, it's not that. It's just that we had the car to either win or finish in the top five. I wanted to put the heat on these guys and I really don't know what happened. "I'm completely in shock and I'm just completely drained from the devastation." Johnson earned his second victory of the year by stretching his final tank of gas for 93 laps. Once the tank of his Chevrolet was full and he had moved into the lead, he carefully conserved his gas while holding off Kevin Harvick at the finish. "I think some strategy played into it at the end with us gambling we had enough gas to finish it," Johnson said. "After I took the lead, I had to look in my mirror the rest of the way while I conserved fuel and kept an eye on whoever was second. But I was able to ride around and watch my gas and we made it." Kenseth -- also cutting it close on gas -- finished third to take the largest points margin since he took over the lead in early March.
"I don't know where anyone else finished, but I know we finished in front of them so that was good," Kenseth said. "All you can do is show up every week and do the best job you can. This week I feel real fortunate to get out of here and gain points." Ryan Newman finished fourth in a Dodge, and Robby Gordon was fifth in a Chevrolet. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended up sixth and maintained the third spot in the points standings. But Earnhardt is 273 behind Kenseth and felt like he's competing in a losing battle. "Matt is having a spectacular season and I applaud what his team is doing," Earnhardt said. "I feel like we're not chipping away, and we can't gain anything on Matt at all. But we've still got to enjoy our success because we're having the best season. We've got to be proud of that." Jeff Gordon easily had the best car for most of the day and led a race-high 133 laps. But he didn't pit for gas when his teammate Johnson did. That meant he had to stop later, and when he made the final trip into the pits, his stop was slower than most because he decided to change all four tires instead of a gas-and-go. Jeff Gordon came out in 28th. He struggled with traffic and his Chevrolet's handling, and was devastated with his finish. Dale Jarrett finished seventh and Steve Park was eighth -- putting all three of Richard Childress Racing's cars (Harvick and Robby Gordon) in the top 10 for the first time this season. Roush Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10. The field was set by points after rain washed out Friday's qualifying, putting Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt up front at the start. Johnson began sixth, but quickly moved into second and was racing for the lead soon after. Drivers then jockeyed for track position over many of the race's 12 cautions, with some pitting for gas and tires and others staying out to pick up spots. When caution came out with 96 laps to go, about 15 cars decided not to pit. Harvick and Johnson did, gambling that would be the last time they would have to stop for gas. Kenseth came in under that caution, too, boosting his chances of getting to the end without a stop. But the 12th caution came out with 66 to go when Christian Fittipaldi hit the wall. So the 15 cars that didn't stop under the previous caution went in for gas. Newman, who used fuel mileage to win last week in Chicago, inherited the lead. Johnson was fifth at the restart. It didn't take Johnson long to get up on Newman's bumper and with 37 laps to go, he took over the lead with a pass in the first turn. From there it was just a matter of conserving the fuel and hanging on for his second win of the season, fifth of his career.
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