Tony Stewart, completely out of gas for the final mile, coasted to the checkered flag ahead of Casey Mears, who was also out of gas in Sunday’s Banquet 400 in Kansas City, Kan.
Stewart won, but Jimmie Johnson should have, and would have, but for a split-second judgment with six laps left. Johnson had a comfortable lead and was headed onto the pit road for a splash of gas when Kasey Kahne spun in front of him.
But Johnson knew he was running on fumes and pitted two laps later, only to be caught speeding on the pit road and assessed a “pass-through [the pits]” penalty which left him to finish 14th and remain mired in eighth place among the 10 playoff contenders.
Jeff Burton padded his lead in the Chase standings by playing it conservatively. He stopped for gas with eight laps to go, passing up a shot at his second straight race win for a sure-thing fifth-place finish. Burton leads the Chase by 69 points over rookie Denny Hamlin.