AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Sometimes the slowest car wins the race.
In Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag by slowing down over the final seven laps to conserve fuel, after all his other challengers except Clint Bowyer had come to the pits for gas in the closing laps.
Crew chief Chad Knaus spent the final few circuits at the one-mile track beseeching the driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy to drop his pace and save fuel. The strategy worked, and the two-time defending Cup champion nursed his car across the finish line 7.002 seconds ahead of Bowyer.
Johnson completed the final lap at a relative snail's pace -- 31.19 seconds -- in full conservation mode.
The victory returned Hendrick Motorsports to victory lane after an eight-race hiatus and gave the two-time defending Cup champion the 34th win of his career. Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Carl Edwards, who rallied from a pit-road penalty to claim the fourth spot.
Mark Martin, who surrendered the lead to Johnson when he came to the pits for two tires and fuel on lap 302, ran fifth, followed by points leader Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch.
Johnson's margin of victory was the largest since Martin Truex Jr. won the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover by 7.355 seconds over Ryan Newman on June 4, 2007.
"Just like we talked about in the meeting, this is a short race -- not a lot of time to recover," Knaus said after the command to start engines, encouraging the crew to avoid costly mistakes on pit road.
The start of the race was delayed, however, so that Fox could complete its telecast of the rain-delayed Major League Baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
"Jimmie, they're going to pull you up here and stop you," said spotter Stevie Reeves.
"Believe it or not, they really are waiting on the baseball game," Knaus added.
Finally, the cars were ready to roll.
"Boys, thanks for everything," Johnson said during the pace laps. "Let's have some fun. We've got a great car here."
Johnson started seventh, and it was soon clear that the Lowe's team had built a stout car for Saturday night's race. On lap 6, Johnson took over sixth position from Martin after some hard side-by-side racing. On lap 9 he passed Kasey Kahne for fifth.
Under caution on lap 12 for debris in turns 1 and 2, Johnson discussed his early exploits. "Getting a little fired up there, racing side by side too early," he said. "The car's just like it was in practice yesterday, just like we'd hoped."
"It's all brand new stuff," Knaus said before a restart on lap 16. "I think you probably shocked it there a little bit, being so aggressive that early."
On lap 31, Johnson powered the Lowe's Chevy into the lead for the first time, passing polesitter Ryan Newman to the inside through turn 2. Ten laps later, Johnson heard a terse warning from spotter Stevie Reeves on his headset.
"Caution's out," Reeves said. "The 17 (Matt Kenseth) just hit the wall right in front of you."
During the yellow-flag period, Johnson reported to Knaus on the handling of his car: "Center of turns 3 and 4 is getting a little bit snug. Center of 1 and 2 is free, just like in practice."
Johnson pitted from the lead on lap 42 but came out third behind Newman and Edwards.
After a restart on lap 47, however, it didn't take Johnson long to regain the lead. He passed Newman for the top spot on lap 50.
"OK, don't overdrive it," Knaus warned, after Johnson overtook the polesitter.
On lap 67, as the Lowe's Chevy was approaching a group of back markers, Reeves radioed, "Bunch of lapped cars coming back to you."
"When you get to the 78 (Joe Nemechek) up there, do you want to go to the high side or do you want to go to the low side?" Knaus asked.
"Doesn't matter," Johnson replied, confident that Nemechek wouldn't impede his progress.
"Jimmie, you've got the 84 and the 77 three cars in front of you," Reeves warned on lap 74. "They've been kind of aggressive." But Johnson had no difficulty negotiating the lapped traffic.
"Free through (turns) 1 and 2, great through the center of 3 and 4, loose off of 4," Johnson reported on lap 85.
On lap 94, Knaus rattled off Johnson's most recent lap time: "29.43 (seconds)," Knaus said. "You've got the top 10 cars running around that same speed when they're in clean air. Going to be pitting in about 20."
Knaus was in the process of planning a pit stop when caution flew on lap 113 for Nemechek's spin in Turn 1. The yellow flag trapped Edwards, who already had pitted, a lap down.
"That worked out well for us," Knaus said, already thinking ahead. "Save us some fuel, Jimmie."
Under caution on lap 116, Johnson brought the Lowe's Chevy to the pits for four tires and fuel.
"The 99 (Edwards) had too many men over the wall," Knaus said. "He's going to have to start at the back."
"He's a lap down, isn't he?" asked Johnson.
Johnson held the lead for a restart on lap 122 but surrendered the top spot to Earnhardt in heavy race traffic on lap 124.
"That's OK, you'll get him back," Reeves said.
Sure enough, on lap 127, Johnson retook the lead from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.
"Temps are getting hot," a concerned Johnson told Knaus on lap 132.
Moments after that transmission, Newman's engine blew, covering the track with oil and triggering a multicar pileup in turn 4. But the discussion on the Lowe's team was centered around the temperature gauges.
"Make sure that gauge is reading properly," Knaus said. "We think the gauge is reading incorrectly. Even if it is reading correctly, we probably have a cushion of 10 or 15 degrees."
After a stoppage of 9 minutes, 47 seconds to clean the track, Knaus decided to keep the Lowe's Chevy on the track during the caution for Newman's blown engine, but almost every other contending car came to the pits. Though Johnson restarted in the lead on lap 141, he was out of sequence with the other top cars.
On lap 148, Reed Sorenson's hard crash into the turn 4 wall caused the fifth caution of the race, and Johnson was forced to bring the Lowe's Chevy to the pits while the majority of the leaders stayed on the track. Johnson restarted 14th on lap 154 after losing several more positions during a slower-than-usual stop.
"Come on, guys," Knaus said. "That wasn't speedy. We lost spots. OK, Jimmie, just rally through these guys and be smart."
By the time NASCAR called the sixth caution of the race on lap 162 for Elliott Sadler's blown engine, Johnson had climbed to 11th position.
"We can pit now and be back on cycle with the leaders," Knaus said.
"Sounds good to me," replied Johnson, who brought the Lowe's Chevy to the pits.
"Jimmie, save me a little bit of fuel here," Knaus said after the stop. "We should be plenty good."
Because three lead-lap cars remained on the track during the caution, Johnson restarted 11th on lap 168, but 20 laps later he was running eighth.
"It's getting looser and looser," Johnson said on lap 198.
Two laps later, David Ragan's spin in turn 2 brought out caution No. 7.
"OK, guys, let's pick up some spots," Knaus exhorted the crew before a pit stop on lap 201.
The opposite happened, and a problem on pit road dropped Johnson to 14th for a restart on lap 205. Again, he began a march to the front, passing teammate Jeff Gordon for eighth on lap 221 and overtaking Greg Biffle for seventh a lap later.
"Free off," Johnson reported after Kasey Kahne hit the wall on lap 229 to bring out the eighth caution of the race.
"We're a little outside our window, but we're going to go ahead and pit you here," Knaus said.
That would be the last stop of the race for the Lowe's Chevy.
"I can live with the entry, but I need help off the corner," Johnson said, still talking about the handling.
"You were a pretty consistent two-tenths faster than the leaders there, when you got in clean air," Knaus replied.
After a restart on lap 234, Johnson was seventh. "The 1 (Truex) and the 18 (Kyle Busch) are your next positions, there," Knaus said. "Be smooth."
By lap 281, Knaus was already thinking about fuel strategy. "If it goes green the rest of the way, we think we'll run out of gas with one lap to go," Knaus told Johnson. "The 88 (Earnhardt) can't make it. We don't know about the other two guys ahead of us (Martin and Hamlin).
"You think you can save a little (fuel) for us?" Knaus asked on lap 289.
"Not if I run my ass off," Johnson replied.
"Then you better get that lead then," Knaus rejoined.
"No problem," Johnson said.
One by one the contending cars came to the pits for fuel. Hamlin brought his Toyota down pit road on lap 297, promoting Johnson to second position. When Martin pitted on lap 302 -- with 10 laps left in the race -- Johnson had the lead.
With eight laps remaining, Knaus told Johnson, "Pit this time," but after a brief discussion, they changed strategy, given that the Lowe's Chevy had a comfortable cushion over the pursuing cars.
"Back up your pace half a second a lap," Knaus radioed to his driver. "Screw it. We'll go for it."
Knaus spent the remainder of the race slowing Johnson down, ultimately telling him to back his pace down three seconds a lap, because none of the drivers behind had time to catch up.
"Put it in neutral!" Knaus ordered as Johnson rolled through the final two corners.
"I'm good," Johnson answered. "I've got good fuel pressure." As he approached the finish line, Johnson screamed, "We're going to win this thing."
"Great job, guys," he continued after crossing the finish line. "You guys rock!"
