Last Lap: Fuel for fire

Last year, Goodyear's tire performance fell off so minimally that competition was often reduced to a comedy of conservation. It was survival of the calculated.

He who gambled best, won.

Ryan Newman recorded eight wins in 2003, no less than half of them due to superior fuel mileage. That's no knock on Newman. Matt Borland simply took full advantage of the package given him.

But it was getting ridiculous.

So with 2004 came a new generation tire with a softer compound. It wears more, and thus falls off considerably performance-wise during competition. The idea was to promote more overall pit stops, and more four-tire changes when drivers did stop, thus reducing the number of races decided by fuel mileage calculations.

It has done the job, and very well.

Not until Sunday's Auto Club 500 was a race determined by fuel mileage this season. And, as critical as I was of the fuel mileage monotony last year, I personally felt Sunday's finish was awesome.

As the laps wound down, I was standing on pit road waiting to interview Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield about another near-miss effort for Evernham Motorsports, all the while scanning leader Jeff Gordon and second-place running Bobby Labonte.

Fatback McSwain was calling out lap times with each passing circuit. Labonte was catching Gordon, and fast. Suddenly, Labonte came over the radio. "It's out of gas."

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Whoa! Wake up! Drama! A minute later, Kahne and Mayfield zoomed by on pit road. The tank had run dry for them, too. Would Gordon make it? Jimmie Johnson? The suspense!

It was a dramatic ending to the best race in California Speedway history. But some are still hell-bent to eliminate fuel mileage races at all costs. Some have gone so far as to suggest that NASCAR throw competition cautions within the final fuel window to assure full-throttle finishes.

What suggestions would you present to NASCAR in an effort to avoid having races end on fuel mileage calculations?

Me? None, honestly. They've done what they needed to do. The new tire/downforce package has successfully eliminated last year's fuel fiasco.

That said, once all the teams figure out the new combination, we may well be right back to where we were last year. But that's another debate for another time.

On to your thoughts...

rcr29: Nothing. Please tell NASCAR to quit with the mid-season knee-jerk rule changes. It really effects the credibility of a sport to constantly change the rules in mid-season.

I'm not a big fan at all of many of the changes NASCAR has made recently, but the softer tire has been great. Fuel mileage always will be and should be part of the racing strategy when a race has long green flag runs at the end.

What was bad last year is that tires did not fall off, so some teams (mainly the 12!!!) seemed to stretch their fuel every race and get to the front by not pitting under cautions and be able to stay there on old tires.

Now it seems like new tires are an advantage as they should be, so the fuel mileage game should only come to play when there are long green flag runs at the end, not every race.

	Ryan Newman Credit: AP

I agree with every aspect of this response, KH, and don't worry, NASCAR isn't making any knee-jerk rules changes just because the Fontana race ended with a fuel mileage situation. Fuel mileage is an innate part of racing strategy, and should only be a concern when tire wear forces it to be.

2muchrpm8: I would maybe allow the teams to use a larger fuel cell on those races known for fuel mileage races. I do believe something should be done to put each team on an equal playing field.

I do not think that each manufacturer can go the same distance on fuel. I do think that these races this weekend were exciting races because of fuel mileage but I do not believe they were fair.

It's not so much the manufacturer as it is the teams, John Kernan. Gordon and Johnson drive Chevrolets and made it to the end, while Labonte's Chevy was unable to make it the full distance.

The Dodges driven by Kahne and Mayfield ran out of gas, but Ryan Newman and Brendan Gaughan both had enough.

These days the line between maximum horsepower and required fuel mileage is finer'n Uma Thurman in that yellow Kill Bill getup.

It's all preparation and the guts to roll the dice.

BigE_lives_on: Simple. If NASCAR doesn't want races won on fuel mileage, make a mandatory pit stop within a predetermined number of laps from the finish. Whether it's a green flag stop, or under yellow, tell the teams that between laps 205-210 for example, they must come in for a stop.

Force the teams to make that last stop, but don't regulate what changes the crew can make to the car. Some teams may just take gas, others two tires, or go for wholesale changes. Some teams will try to simply save time by taking gas only, while others will try to improve their cars and hopefully make up for the extra 3-5 seconds on pit road with a better handling car.

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Will this result in the best car always winning the race? No way. One team will manage to get their car out quicker, and may just have enough of a lead that they won't be caught.

To me, the same argument can be made here that so many of us have raised in discussing the Chase for the Championship. To me, it's asinine that a guy can build a 300-point lead on his nearest competitor, and lose it just because the black and white print says so. Same here.

For a team to work their rears off all weekend to dial a car in that dominates on Sunday, only to have a competition caution negate it with 10 to go? No way, man. And what if that pit stop -- one that isn't necessary performance-wise -- goes badly? Say a lug nut isn't fully tightened or the car falls off the jack? Then the driver hasn't a chance to makeup that which was taken from him.

If that happened, we'd raise 40 kinds of hell about it.

Dnnsnyder: MAYBE HAVE JUNIOR SPIN OUT AT EVERY RACE. WILL THAT SOLVE THE PROBLEM?

Dee Snyder. Twisted Sister. Water just shot out my nose reading that response.

gogregbiffle: I wouldn't make any changes. While I would not want to see fuel mileage racing every week I find considerable tension and excitement in seeing how the teams' strategies pay off.

	Bobby Labonte ran out of gas on the final lap on Sunday. Credit: AP

In my opinion, it shows how NASCAR really is a team sport rather than just a driver/superstar surrounded by some supporting players.

When you get down to that last pit stop at the outer edge of the fuel window you get to see how good the crew chief is with his numbers. You find out how good the engine shop is with the fuel mileage program.

You find out how good that gasman is at packing the fuel cell. Then, you find out which driver has that just right touch needed to stay fast while conserving fuel.

If you appreciate teamwork and strategy you can be up there on the edge of your seat for a fuel mileage influenced finish. And there is always the chance that a caution will throw it all out the window anyway.

Doug Richert always gives good answers. This week is no exception. It truly encompasses the team aspect of a fuel mileage situation. Everyone has to do their part to pull it off. Very well done.

GRTiever: NASCAR's already got the solution; it's called "debris in Turn 4"...

Hysterical. Depends who's leading. And by how much.

Raider24: Ryan Newman said it best last week. Ryan wasn't lucky to finish in the top five, but others failed to properly calculate fuel mileage. Teams must balance the horsepower and fuel mileage.

	Jeff Gordon won by over 12 seconds at Fontana. Credit: AP

If No. 18 didn't go after the win so aggressively, No. 18 would have finished in 2nd place. He had a second place car at best! Horsepower only is for the dragsters. The balance is back with softer tires, so LEAVE IT ALONE!!!

I agree, Charles Woodson. The softer tire has effectively ended last year's seemingly endless fuel mileage finishes. They're cool every now and again, but most of us had had it by season's end last year.

Roval: This will be fairly convoluted, but it's the only suggestion I can think of. With 20 to 25 laps to go, you throw a competition caution. These caution laps don't count, and the running order doesn't change, no matter how fast you are in the pits.

You can only fuel up, no tire changes, or adjustments. Maybe a windshield tear off, but that's it. The field returns to track and is lined back up in the order before the yellow flies.

Lapped cars are placed between what competitors they were near. The only draw back is the field gets lined up single file. Oh, and no lucky dog on that caution either.

It'd never work, in my opinion. Making cars restart on old tires that have cooled off and lost grip would be trouble. And if you think it's taking too long to line cars up now under caution, the suggestion of putting lapped cars between lead-lap cars would double it.

1Jeff24fan: This is one area where I can honestly say I don't think NASCAR is doing anything wrong. They are making racing more competitive. There is no way to insure that ALL races aren't fuel mileage races. Certain tracks or races are going to come down to who has gas.

That being said, NASCAR has already made changes so that not all of them will end that way. The softer tire is a part of this. It stops the days of 75 laps on one set of tires, meaning if you have to change tires, they may as well put at least a splash of gas in too, eliminating the fuel mileage situations for the most part.

There you have it. My sentiments exactly. This is one area where NASCAR has it right.

The Last Lap appears on NASCAR.COM every Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.