Points racing turns into surprising win for Martin

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Mark Martin loves surprises, which is why Sunday's victory in the LifeLock 400 was "really cool."

Just enough fuel

Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle ran out of fuel. That left third-place Mark Martin in position to cruise on by and win the LifeLock 400.

• Complete story
• Caraviello: Respect fuel
• Video: Final Laps
• Video: Victory Lane
• Press Pass: Martin

More worried about big-picture "points racing" than short-term success, Martin might have been the most surprised person on the grounds of the Michigan International Speedway when he coasted across the finish line as winner of the race. In his own words, Martin said he's always been snake-bit when it comes to economy runs.

"I always, always come up short on the gas mileage thing," Martin said. "I always have. If you look at the stats, you know, I've lost 25 and won two probably on it. You know, I just don't have the luck for it."

And assuming that he had no chance to chase down leader Greg Biffle or teammate Jimmie Johnson after the final restart with 44 laps to go, Martin then went to Plan B: protecting his position, earning a top-five finish and getting one step closer to cementing a spot in the Chase.

"I saw the pace they were wanting to run, and I started saving [fuel] from the third lap," Martin said. "After I got my track position, I started trying to save. And the car worked perfectly to save fuel [Sunday]. I was in a position that I could.

"It was important to me to finish this race. If we were in the top five in points, I would have run out [Sunday] because I would have gone after it. But, you know, we just weren't. I just had to let them go do their thing. I couldn't save gas and run the pace that they were trying to run."

Martin had the best view in the house of the Biffle-Johnson battle for the lead in the final seven laps, but instead of joining in, he maintained his pace. And ultimately, that may have turned out to be the biggest difference of the day, because Johnson's car hiccupped and died just as he took the white flag. And when Biffle's car suddenly slowed coming out of Turn 2, Martin's mind suddenly switched gears. (Continued)