Did Mark Martin Get Snookered ?

Stock car racing fans got to witness an incredible judgement call on pit road this past weekend at
Phoenix International Raceway by crew chief Chad Knaus which led to the first win for #48 Chevrolet driver Jimmy Johnson this season.

With roughly 40 laps remaining in the Subway 500 , Crew chiefs, FOX television announcers and race car drivers alike speculated as to when and if their respective teams should get to pit road for fuel.

One by one with 10-12 laps to go in the race ,teams got to the pit lane so as not to run out of precious Sunoco fuel and two fresh Goodyear tires on the right side of their stock cars.

Why the tires I'll never understand but, that's another subject.

With all the other NASCAR racing teams electing to pit,that amazing combination of Johnson and Knaus for Hendricks Motorsports stayed on the race track and inevitably gained an insurmountable 10 second lead on the nearest competition ..Second place finisher the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin.

Listening to the in car broadcast you could hear the spotter for Jimmy Johnson telling him to back down on the speed of his race car to conserve fuel mileage and gave constant updates as to where the competition was relative to the race track.

Most stock car racing fans witnessing this NASCAR event must have been at the edge of their seats wondering if this could possibly be happening. Mark Martins' #8 Chevrolet which had clearly been the dominant player during the later stages of the race simply had no chance with so few laps remaining to chase down the #48 Chevrolet of Jimmy Johnson.

My question is ...If the race cars are using twenty-two gallon fuel cells and get roughly four miles to the gallon for mileage why would any of the NASCAR stock car teams feel the need to come in to the pits for fuel on a one mile Phoenix International race track when they had all come to the pit lane under a caution with 82 laps to go ?

Why not just a splash and go at most , if some teams felt they might be a bit short ?

And then to add two right side tires besides ,What in the H*ll were these crew chiefs thinking about?

Somehow I have to wonder if these crew chiefs were watching the same stock car race that I was ????

This weeks stock car race was a prime example of how and why the #48 race team has captured the championship for two straight racing seasons .Apparently the team and crew pay attention to all the little details that the rest of the NASCAR teams do not. Did Chad Knaus gamble with the outcome by not bringing Jimmy Johnsons' race car in for fuel ? I don't think so .

What do you think ? Leave a comment !