Robby Gordon wins at Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Robby Gordon was doing everything he could to preserve fuel, and his timing was perfect because those in pursuit of him were in the same predicament.

"I backed up 20 car-lengths for each corner," Gordon said after stretching his fuel over the final 39 laps to complete a sweep of this year's NASCAR road-course races with a victory Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

That was not only an effort to save gas. He wanted to be ready in case he was forced to run harder over the final few laps.

"I didn't want to use up the brakes or the tires in case Jeff Gordon or one of those guys got to us at the end of the race," he explained. "So we had plenty in reserve."

It was his third career victory, but this time nobody complained.

It wasn't that way two months ago at the other road course in Sonoma, Calif., when Gordon won after violating the so-called gentlemen's agreement by passing teammate Kevin Harvick under caution.

Gordon's only other victory, two years ago at New Hampshire International Speedway, also resulted in controversy. He took the lead near the end of the race by spinning out Jeff Gordon.

The key for Robby Gordon was pitting Sunday when Rusty Wallace went off the course on the 51st of 90 laps.

He was chasing down Wallace when the two-time Watkins Glen winner left the pavement.

"I saw Rusty lock up the right front tire, and I called and said, 'Rusty's in the sand,"' Gordon said.

Crew chief Kevin Hamlin reacted quickly.

"We heard the guy on the loudspeaker say, 'trouble,' so we decided to dive in for gas," Hamlin said.

He called Gordon and said, "Pit now, pit now."

That move paid off when the field pitted under caution two laps later. That put him ahead of them, and Gordon took the lead when those still in front of him pitted on lap 61.

"Track position is so important," he said. "I don't know if we had the best car today, but we won. That's what teamwork is all about."

Jeff Gordon had the best car, but the worst luck. He started on the pole and was last after one lap because Greg Biffle spun him out on the first turn.

Then the four-time series champion spent the rest of the day trying to make it up. He reached third, but ran out of gas on the final turn and was knocked into the wall by Harvick.

"I was trying to get out of his way, but when you're out of gas you don't have too many options," said Gordon, who wound up 33rd.

Harvick was summoned to the NASCAR trailer for consultation, just as Biffle had been after hitting Gordon in anger last month in New Hampshire.

"If he was out of gas he should have gotten out of the groove," Harvick said of Gordon.

Biffle, who said he didn't mean to spin out Gordon on Sunday, also was called in, but for another infraction.

"They must have been mad at me spinning out Jeff on the first lap," Biffle said.

Robby Gordon's Chevrolet beat the Dodge of road-course ace Scott Pruett by 2.33 seconds to take the $4 million Sirius at The Glen. The winner led only once, for the final 30 laps.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third in a Chevy, followed by those of Jimmie Johnson and Harvick, the winner of last week's Brickyard 400.