Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli celebrate in Victory Lane on Sunday. Credit: Autostock

Sunoco Pit Move of the Race: Watkins Glen

Conventional wisdom on an oval is that you wait until a caution flag to make a pit stop, with the idea that you'll gain track position when the field is bunched up.

VIDEO Sunoco Pit Move Tony Stewart pits under green on lap 57. •   Past Pit Moves

But on a road course, you can throw conventional wisdom out the window.

It was a green-flag stop that gave Tony Stewart and the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet team the track position they needed to win Sunday's Sirius at the Glen.

Ward Burton's engine problems forced a yellow on lap 50. Most of the contenders knew they couldn't run the final 40 laps without at least another splash of gas, but when to stop?

Tony Stewart led 46 laps on Sunday, including the final 15. Credit: Autostock

With Stewart in the lead at the lap 52 restart, Robby Gordon and Ron Fellows gambled on a green-flag pit stop four laps later that might give them the necessary track position.

But Stewart pitted one lap later under green, was able to take on four fresh tires and fuel and came out of the pits in front of the other two contenders.

"Our fuel mileage is off from a little bit from a lot of the guys we were racing," said Greg Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief. "Our game plan was to stop at those specific laps and not to get off of it."

Stewart gave up the lead, which cycled to the only two drivers who gambled that they could go the distance: Brendan Gaughan and Casey Mears.

Jeff Gordon chased Tony Stewart for much of the first half of the race. Credit: Autostock

Mears passed Gaughan on lap 68 but was faced with a no-win situation -- either make a quick dash for fuel and give up the lead or hope for a caution that would bunch up the field and make him vulnerable to a pass.

That caution came on lap 74 when Gaughan spun into the gravel trap.

Mears stayed out but was easy pickings for Stewart on the lap 76 restart. Stewart then held off Fellows for his second win at Watkins Glen, while Mears' Dodge ran out of fuel in the final turn and he wound up fourth.

"We had really good pit stops," Zipadelli said. "When we came on pit road we were by ourselves. We had a really good on and off exit pit road and didn't loose a lot of time like a lot of other people we were racing. Our strategy worked today. Our car worked really well. Our team did really well."