Polesitter Brian Vickers goes the distance and wins Sunday at Michigan International Speedway!

We’ve seen it before. The fastest car doesn’t always win as Jimmie Johnson demonstrated after leading a race high 133 laps. He went from 1st to 33rd when a gamble on fuel left him out of gas with 2 to go.

Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty Images

“When Jimmie ran out there, I knew at that point we had enough lead on Jeff that all I had to do was get to the finish,” Vickers said. “But it was definitely a sickening feeling in the bottom of my stomach we could run out at any minute.  I felt confident about how much I saved, but, you know, it’s hard not to worry about it.”

Vickers ran out of gas after crossing the finish and attempting a burn-out, but the gamble paid off. The win moved him up one spot to 13th in the point standings and just 12 points out of 12th place as The Chase gets closer. After 6 poles this season and 3 consecutive at Michigan, Vickers finally sealed the deal and handed Red Bull their first series win.

“It does a lot for the morale,” said Vickers. “To finally get the monkey off our back, win a race, I don’t know how many laps we’ve led before we actually won, but it was a lot. We’ve put together some good races, but not a great race.  We haven’t sealed the deal.  Today we finally did.  It’s a big weight off our shoulders.  I know it is off of mine.  I’m sure it is off of the whole team.  Hopefully we can take this momentum and carry it into the Chase, go get in the Chase, go race for a championship.  I just can’t say how proud I am of everybody.”

It was deja-vu for the 48 team. Johnson dominated the June race at MIS, but ran out of gas before the finish after leading a race-high 146 laps.

“We’ve won one race on fuel mileage ever. It is just not what we are good at,” Johnson said during his post-race interview. “I think it is a little too risky for us to even try it. We got lucky once in Phoenix. Outside of that, we always come up short.”

Hendrick drivers led 166 of 200 laps. During the closing laps, all 4 Hendrick drivers were running comfortably in the top-10. It seemed one of them would be destined to win. Jeff Gordon scored a runner-up finish followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Gordon was also worried about fuel as the laps wound down. “I really felt confident we were going to make it,” he said. “Even though Steve told me we were four short when we left pit road that last pit stop.  I shut the engine off so much.  I felt like I got us six laps.  At least with the caution, I felt like I did.  Felt pretty confident I didn’t have to conserve a whole lot.  Junior was pressuring me a lot at the end.  I was waiting, to see if the 43 and 83 ran out.  One did, one didn’t.”

Earnhardt Jr. pitted with 42 laps remaining while the leaders stayed out, so fuel was not an issue. “I don’t want to get too excited,” he said. “You want to be up front every week like this. You want to be up there the whole race.”

Points leader Tony Stewart didn’t play a factor in the race. He did however, clinch his spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Stewart finished 17th.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here.

There 7 cautions for 36 laps and 25 lead changes among 14 drivers: B. Vickers 0; M. Martin 1-23; J. Johnson 24-41; M. Kenseth 42; J. Gordon 43; C. Bowyer 44; D. Ragan 45; C. Edwards 46; D. Hamlin 47-48; J. Johnson 49-53; M. Martin 54; P. Menard 55-58; M. Kenseth 59-63; J. Johnson 64-94; M. Martin 95; B. Vickers 96-97; J. Johnson 98-116; M. Martin 117; M. Waltrip 118; T. Stewart 119-120; J. Johnson 121-148; D. Reutimann 149-152; D. Earnhardt Jr. 153-158; B. Vickers 159-165; J. Johnson 166-197; B. Vickers 198-200