Runnin' On Empty: Fuel Conservation and the Michigan Race

We saw today in the the NASCAR race at Michigan the huge role that fuel conservation plays in the the sport today, especially on the 1.5 and 2-mile long tracks that make up the bulk of NASCAR's schedule. Mark Martin won today's race because he succeeded in saving fuel, while both Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle ran out of fuel attempting to duel for the victory.

This has been the second consecutive week where fuel mileage has played a role in determining the winner, with Martin's win following Tony Stewart's victory last week at Pocono. Martin, one of the most popular and respected drivers on the circuit, is probably the best driver in the field when it comes to saving gasoline. His performance today cements that fact.

It is interesting to compare the success of Martin with the failure of Biffle and Johnson, especially Johnson, who has now ran out of fuel in consecutive races after doing the same at Pocono. Johnson's double failure is perplexing considering that he has won the last three Sprint Cup championships.

Johnson knows how to do the little things that add up to a championship caliber driver, yet he was unable to save enough gas to solidify his lead over Biffle after he made a pass in the last 10 laps. For almost 20 laps, Johnson was repeatedly getting sideways in the corners, indicative of pushing his car to the limits.

Biffle running out of fuel seemed to be caused by the challenge of Johnson to his lead. Over the final 20 laps, Biffle slowed down his pace attempting to save fuel, but this allowed Johnson to catch up to him and race him for the lead. Biffle, in the post-race interview, said that he believed that having to race Johnson for the lead was the primary cause of him running out of fuel.

This leads to an interesting point: Whether Biffle should have let Johnson pass by. Fuel conservation in NASCAR is an inexact science since neither team nor driver knows exactly how much fuel they have at a specific time. From what I saw, Biffle must have believed that he had saved enough fuel to race Johnson hard, but racing Johnson 100 percent was enough to cause Biffle to run out of fuel with about 2/3 of a lap left.

Johnson and Biffle should be applauded for racing each other rather than sitting back and trying to conserve fuel, but it seems that Martin took the more sensible approach. Instead of trying to catch Johnson and Biffle, two cars that were probably faster than his, Martin made the most of his limitations by running slower and conserving fuel, assuring a high points finish which he needed to get into the top 12 and being in position to capitalize on a huge break.

Along with Martin, the other huge beneficiary of fuel strategy late in the race was second-place Jeff Gordon, whose great fuel mileage throughout the race allowed crew chief Steve Letarte to give Gordon the green light to race as hard as possible, allowing Gordon to get around Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin and putting him in position to capitalize greatly on Biffle and Johnson's trouble.

In a fuel conservation situation, the smoother driving styles of Martin and Gordon allowed them to move up late in the race rather than slow down dramatically in a last ditch attempt to save fuel or run out of fuel