Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle simply outsmarted themselves while trying outsmart each other....and lost

   Greg Biffle: Oh, but for one more half-gallon of gas (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   BROOKLYN, Mich.
   Helpless, helpless, that's what Jimmie Johnson felt in the closing miles of Sunday's Michigan 400.
   He had dominated most of the surprisingly swift race (2-1/2 hours, with only three brief yellows). But down the stretch Johnson was chasing Greg Biffle…and trying to save enough gas to finish the race.
   Last week at Pocono, another fuel mileage finish, challenger Carl Edwards backed off late rather than carry the fight to leader Tony Stewart, when both were iffy on gas. And when Edwards started backing off , Stewart had the luxury of backing off too, and Stewart wound up with enough fuel to win.
   This weekend Johnson decided he wasn't going to make the same mistake Edwards made, so he carried the battle up to Biffle in the final laps.
   And Biffle, surprisingly, accepted Johnson's challenge – and both men ran out of gas at the white flag lap, and they watched cagey Mark Martin slip by to win.
   "Well, there's just not much you can do," Johnson said after coasting him 22nd. "It's a shame to have such strong racing and come back with a whatever finish it was."
    Biffle managed to make it back to the line to finish fifth.
    The race was Johnson virtually the entire day. He led 146 of the 200 laps. Biffle led 42. Martin only led the last lap.
   "We raced hard; we led the most laps," Johnson said. "At a time when it's tough to pass guys on big tracks, we went up there and passed Mark and passed Greg….
   "Unfortunately we didn't win.
    "It's part of it.
    "We'll take our lumps and go to the next one.
   "We were just one lap short on fuel. I guess I had to work harder than we'd factored getting by Mark and Greg. I thought we were in great shape…and unfortunately we ran out of fuel.
   I guess if we had held back, we would have finished second or third, or maybe Greg would have run out of gas and we still would have won….
   "It sounded like we were pretty good (on fuel to go), so I was a little shocked when we ran out.
   "But we know here and Sonoma and a couple other tracks are where you can have goofy stuff like that happen."
   

   
Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus: maybe a bigger fuel cell next time? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

   
Biffle didn't take it all so well: "Pretty frustrating….our first win for the season and I watched it slip away. Fuel mileage. Two weeks in a row.
   "Here's the thing – I knew I wouldn't be able to make it with the pace Jimmie was running. I could run a lot faster than I was running; in fact I picked it up half a second to run his lap times.
    "But I thought to myself  'There's no way we're going to make it.' So I backed it off a bit.
    "I asked Greg Erwin (his crew chief) if I could run him down; I felt I had a faster car and I felt I could beat him. Greg said 'Go for it.'
   "There were only three laps left….
    "I was kind of tricking him – I was slowing down getting into the corner. When he finally got in front of us he was really, really loose, and I thought 'Well, maybe I can mess with him.'
   "I just ran out half a lap short.
    "If I had let Jimmie go, I would have made it, no problem. I don't know if I'd have beaten Mark though.
   "I think he drafted behind Mark to try to save gas. Obviously that didn't work for him either.
   "Then he just came up there and put pressure on me….and gave Mark the win.
    "We ran out going down the back. I shut it off and just nursed it to the line to try to get a top-five."
    Carl Edwards, Biffle's teammate, came home fourth. "It's good to see Mark win a race; he's a good friend of mine," Edwards said. "But man, it's a heartbreaker to see Greg lose that thing. He did everything right. My heart just aches for Greg."
   
   

   
Greg Biffle: Not Mr. Happy (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)