Credit: Autostock

Sunoco Pit Move of the Week: Richmond

It's not often that a race is decided in the first round of pit stops, but Jeremy Mayfield's decision to take on only fuel at Richmond won him the race.

VIDEO Sunoco Pit Move of the Race Mayfield takes fuel only under caution on lap 54

But it wasn't just the decision that won Mayfield the race -- it was the patience that went along with it.

Mayfield figured he would be leading after the first round of stops, but he didn't count on Mike Wallace electing to stay out to lead some laps.

Wallace drove like Jeff Gordon in his prime -- he led the next 45 laps -- but Mayfield didn't risk taking them both out with an ill-advised pass.

Tires simply didn't wear out at Richmond on Saturday night. Ryan Newman exited the pits third in line with two fresh tires, but he could never around Mayfield and Wallace.

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Mayfield knew that clean air was more important than sitting in traffic with four fresh tires after seeing Casey Atwood nearly win the Busch event with a brilliant one-stop strategy.

"I kind of watched the Busch cars last night and the trucks the night before, and the tires really weren't falling off that much," Mayfield said. "We chose to stay in front the first half of the race and remember what we had to do."

Mayfield's pit crew has not earned a lot of accolades this season, but they were solid when it counted at Richmond, as they performed consistent 15-second stops.

"We had to pit under green and if there had been a caution there would have been big trouble," Mayfield said. "We gambled a little bit and it paid off for us."