The pit stop that never happened propelled Jimmie Johnson to Victory Lane in Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

SLIDESHOW: View Saturday raceday photos

Junior literally can't put No. 8 behind him

PIR notebook: Luck not with Gordon this time

Bordow: NASCAR still a mystery after story lines fall flat

INTERACTIVE: 20 years of memorable moments at PIR

It was the second straight win at the track for Johnson, who won the Checker Auto Parts 500 during the Chase for the Championship last November en route to his second straight NASCAR Cup title.

His victory also ended the drought for Hendrick Motorsports drivers, who hadn’t won a race in eight tries in 2008 after coming off a season where they dominated, claiming 18 of 36 races. “We’re back!” Johnson said. “We’ve been working very hard to get back and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports.”

Saturday’s race evolved into a gamble of fuel mileage.

When leader Mark Martin pitted for a splash of gas and right-side tires with 10 laps to go, Johnson stayed on track and assumed the lead, nursing his fuel-starved No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the mile oval while other contenders — Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. also pulled in for fuel, with some taking two tires.

“Slow it down, slow it down, slow it way down,” Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus pleaded with his driver over the radio as the final laps wound down.

Only Clint Bowyer followed Johnson’s strategy and stretched his final tank to the end, but he was a good 10 seconds behind Johnson with five laps to go.

Meanwhile, Johnson wasn’t slowing down enough to satisfy his crew chief, so Knaus radioed Johnson a “little white lie,” telling him that Bowyer had pitted and that Johnson’s lead had grown to 20 seconds.

Did the lying help? “Yeah, my instinct was to step on the gas pedal,” Johnson said.

Lapped cars whipped by Johnson to the outside and inside, but Bowyer could only close to within 7 seconds at the checkered flag.

In the end Johnson squeezed 80 laps of gas out of his Chevy, and he needed every drop.

He wanted to do a second burnout on his victory lap, but “I ran out gas on the backstretch,” Johnson said.

The fuel gamble also paid off handsomely for Bowyer, who recorded his best finish of the season in his No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. “We were never better than a seventh-place car all night, but things worked out,“ he said. “I was able to conserve, conserve, conserve and it paid off.”

Hamlin won the battle of the cars that pitted late, finishing third. “We beat everyone who pitted. … I’m happy for the top-five finish,” said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Pole sitter Ryan Newman had the early hot rod, leading the first 30 laps, but he dropped back in the field and eventually lost a front seal on his motor, sending oil spewing on the track and sending cars sliding and crashing through the slick on lap 133.

“That‘s two times in the first eight races that we had the same problem,” Newman said. “Our engine company needs to get their stuff together.”

Johnson also had a dominant car early in the race. He passed Newman on lap 50 for the race lead and by lap 79 Johnson had lapped several cars and had built a 1.8-second lead.

But he relinquished the front spot on lap 150 when he pitted during a caution and Earnhardt stayed out to assume the lead.

Martin and Junior engaged in a spirited battle for the lead after a restart on lap 205 with Junior leading and Martin on his tail until Martin passed him with 40 laps to go in the 312-lapper. Martin stayed out front until he had to make his final pit stop for gas and two tires, giving way for Johnson close out the race.

Edwards finished fourth, Martin was fifth, Burton sixth and Earnhardt seventh. Truex, Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.

Burton maintained his Sprint Cup points lead with 1,215, 80 points ahead of Kyle Busch (1,135) followed by Earnhardt (1,129), Johnson (1,116) and Harvick (1,115).

Johnson’s Hendrick teammate, Jeff Gordon, fell behind a lap after an ill-timed pit stop but bounced back to finish 13th, a spot ahead of Tony Stewart.

Phoenix native J.J. Yeley, who qualified 22nd in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota owned by Diamondbacks executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel, changed engines and was forced to start the race at the back of the 43-car field. He raced his way into the top 15, but he crashed during Newman’s oil spill on lap 133 and finished 39th.