LOUDON, N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson gambled on fuel and made it. Ditto for points leader Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon's strategy was a disaster and all the right calls Dale Earnhardt Jr. made meant little to the big picture. Johnson proved to be an expert fuel strategist yesterday, conserving his gas to win at New Hampshire International Speedway in a race that widened Kenseth's hold on the Winston Cup points standings.
Johnson stretched his final tank of gas for 93 laps, then carefully conserved the fuel after taking the lead in the New England 300. He had to keep a close eye on his fuel gauge to make sure he had enough to hold off Kevin Harvick at the finish in a battle of Chevrolets.
"I think some strategy played into it at the end with us gambling we had enough gas to finish it," Johnson said. "After I took the lead, I had to look in my mirror the rest of the way while I conserved fuel and kept an eye on whoever was second. But I was able to ride around and watch my gas and we made it."
The win was the second of the year for Johnson, fifth of his two-year career and the 400th overall for Chevrolet.
Kenseth -- also cutting it close on gas -- finished third to extend his lead in the championship race to a whopping 234 points over Jeff Gordon. It's Kenseth's largest margin since he took over the lead in early March.
"I don't know where anyone else finished, but I know we finished in front of them so that was good," Kenseth said. "All you can do is show up every week and do the best job you can. This week I feel real fortunate to get out of here and gain points."
Earnhardt ended up sixth and maintained the third spot in the points standings. But Earnhardt is now 273 behind Kenseth and felt like he's fighting a losing battle.
"Matt is having a spectacular season and I applaud what his team is doing," Earnhardt said. "I feel like we're not chipping away and we can't gain anything on Matt at all. But we've still got to enjoy our success because we're having the best season. We've got to be proud of that."
Gordon, who easily had the best car for most of the day and led a race-high 133 laps, finished a disappointing 24th.
He didn't pit for gas when his teammate Johnson did. That meant he had to stop later and when he did, his stop was slower than most because he decided to change all four tires instead of a gas-and-go.
"I'm happy for Jimmie, but I'm just so devastated in our own performance right now," he said. "It's not the points, it's not that. It's just that we had the car to either win or finish in the top five. I wanted to put the heat on these guys and I really don't know what happened. I'm completely in shock and I'm just completely drained from the devastation."
