Tony Stewart was on fumes. Jimmie Johnson was fuming.

Eliminated from championship contention, Stewart and his crew decided to gamble on fuel mileage. It paid off — but just barely, as Stewart crawled across the finish line Sunday to win the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Meanwhile, Johnson tried to play it safe to remain in the hunt for the Nextel Cup, giving up the race lead to pit for an extra splash of fuel with four laps to go. But he was penalized for speeding on pit road and finished 14th.

Johnson was upset about the penalty after the race.

“I was just trying to get off and get on and get back in the race, and I got a speeding violation,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t doing anything differently.”

Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, saw his championship momentum evaporate a few laps earlier.

Gordon was running eighth when his car developed an apparent fuel-pressure problem with 29 laps to go, causing him to slow to a crawl on the backstretch.

After getting a push back to the pits from former Hendrick teammate Terry Labonte, Gordon’s crew tried to fix his car but couldn’t get him back on the track. He finished 39th.

“We don’t know what it was,” Gordon said. “I don’t like to speculate. I know I didn’t have any fuel pressure, but I don’t know what it was.”

Casey Mears also gambled on gas and finished second, zigzagging his way to the checkered flag to try to force the last drops of fuel from his tank into his engine.

Chase contender Mark Martin finished third.

Jeff Burton, who broke a five-year winless streak and grabbed the points lead last weekend at Dover, also used a conservative fuel strategy and finished fifth. Burton was running second when he pitted for a splash of fuel with nine laps to go.

Sunday’s race caused a major shakeup in the points standings, with Burton leaving with an unofficial 69-point lead over Denny Hamlin, who managed to climb two spots with an 18th-place finish.

Martin moved up to third in the standings, 70 points behind Burton.

Gordon dropped four spots to sixth, 120 points behind Burton.

AP via Yahoo

Pos St # Driver Sponsor Car Pts Status Laps

1 21 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet 185 Running 267
2 33 42 Casey Mears Texaco/Havoline Dodge 170 Running 267
3 19 6 Mark Martin AAA Ford 165 Running 267
4 32 88 Dale Jarrett UPS Ford 160 Running 267
5 10 31 Jeff Burton Cingular Wireless Chevrolet 160 Running 267
6 27 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 155 Running 267
7 13 5 Kyle Busch Kellogg’s Chevrolet 151 Running 267
8 4 25 Brian Vickers Garnier Chevrolet 142 Running 267
9 6 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 143 Running 267
10 12 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet 139 Running 267
11 23 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 130 Running 267
12 29 16 Greg Biffle National Guard Ford 132 Running 267
13 36 21 Ken Schrader Motorcraft/USAF Ford 124 Running 267
14 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 131 Running 267
15 14 29 Kevin Harvick Reese’s Chevrolet 118 Running 266
16 39 37 Bill Elliott Melling Auto Parts Chevrolet 115 Running 266
17 16 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 112 Running 266
18 25 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Chevrolet 109 Running 266
19 37 32 Travis Kvapil Tide/Downy Chevrolet 111 Running 266
20 28 14 Sterling Marlin Ginn Clubs & Resorts Chevrolet 108 Running 266
21 17 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Dodge 100 Running 266
22 20 38 David Gilliland M&M’s Ford 97 Running 266
23 8 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 94 Running 266
24 15 12 Ryan Newman Alltel Dodge 96 Running 266
25 7 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 88 Running 265
26 40 40 David Stremme Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge 85 Running 265
27 18 01 Joe Nemechek U.S. Army Chevrolet 82 Running 265
28 38 96 Tony Raines DLP HDTV Chevrolet 79 Running 265
29 24 45 Kyle Petty Wells Fargo Dodge 76 Running 265
30 31 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet 73 Running 264
31 43 78 Kenny Wallace Furniture Row Chevrolet 70 Running 264
32 22 06 Todd Kluever Post-it/3M Ford 67 Running 264
33 1 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 69 Running 264
34 2 10 Scott Riggs Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge 66 Running 263
35 42 7 Robby Gordon Harrah’s Chevrolet 58 Running 263
36 35 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Dodge 55 Running 263
37 34 61 Chad Chaffin Oak Gloves Dodge 52 Running 261
38 30 44 Terry Labonte GMAC Chevrolet 49 Out 253
39 11 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 46 Out 238
40 9 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 43 Running 228
41 5 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 40 Accident 194
42 41 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford 37 Accident 128
43 26 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 34 Accident 18

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