Sunoco Pit Move of the Race: Richmond

The decision for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to stay out with 57 laps to go in the Chevy American Revolution was immediately second-guessed.

And for good reason. The dominant car of Tony Stewart elected to take on four tires – and over 50 laps remained.

VIDEO CLIPS Watch Dale Jr.'s final pit stop Play video

But the call was really a no-brainer, especially since the car of Jimmie Johnson (who eventually finished second) was sure to retain track position.

In contrast, the man who battled Earnhardt Jr. for much of the second half – Tony Stewart – did elect to pit during the final round of stops. But Stewart finished right where he restarted – fourth.

"When the (final) caution came out, we thought about pitting with Tony, but I was just so loose on new tires that I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them," Earnhardt Jr. said.

Sunoco Pit Move of the Week  Archive

Earnhardt Jr.'s car was loose early in the runs, but the car tightened up as the laps clicked off. With the new pavement at Richmond, Earnhardt Jr. was able to run well on tires that had 50 more laps on them.

When your car handles that well, old tires are not a problem.

"It just came down to a gut decision on whether to pit with everyone else or stay out," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We live by the sword and die by the sword. We knew Jimmie (Johnson) and Jeff (Gordon) weren't going to pit, and they had really strong cars.

"We stayed out, and it ended up being the right thing to do."