Remember the old Maxwell House coffee slogan that goes, "Good To The Last Drop?"
Perhaps they were referring to Justin Allgaier, who just about capped off his last weekend as a 24-year-old in dramatic style by winning the inaugural STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Allgaier's win was about as nerve-wracking as the fuel mileage game that played out during Saturday night's race at the Joliet, IL venue, as he lurked in the lead pack behind Carl Edwards and Elliott Sadler.
Just as it appeared that Edwards and Sadler were going to duke it out for the race win among themselves, fuel mileage became a role player in deciding the eventual victor.
Edwards' No. 60 Ford Mustang was the class of the field, leading 144 of 200 laps before being challenged by Sadler and Allgaier towards the race finish.
Sadler's No. 2 OneMainFinancial Chevy Impala also ran up front, pacing the field 29 times before late race issues cropped up, relegating the Emporia, VA native to an 11th-place effort.
That's when the race's complexity changed dramatically, as the crew chiefs for the leaders urged their drivers to save fuel for the finish.
For a while, it appeared as if another Sprint Cup regular was going to capture a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, as Carl Edwards had command of the STP 300 in the closing stages, even with Allgaier gaining tremendous ground in the final five laps.
However, Allgaier was not going to be denied at his shot for the race trophy, even with the possibility of running out of fuel with less than a lap to go.
Racing down the backstretch on the final lap, Edwards' Ford ran out of gas, slowing down dramatically in front of Allgaier's Chevy. Making a hard left turn for the race winning pass, Allgaier manoeuvred his No. 31 BRANDT car to the front into turns three and four before his car sputtered coming to the stripe.
Immediately, it became about the slowest march to the start/finish line, as Allgaier limped his car to the checkered flag over Edwards.
While it wasn't a David Pearson-Richard Petty showdown in the 1976 Daytona 500, Saturday night's 300-miler continued the streak of last lap excitement prevalent during the Memorial Day weekend.
Finishing in third was Trevor Bayne in his No. 16 Avnet/BMA Ford Mustang, which was his first race back since sitting out the month of May with a mysterious illness.
To say the least, the 2011 Daytona 500 race winner was elated to return to the racetrack in competitive fashion.
"It feels really good to be back, really thankful to be able to do it again," Bayne said per AP Sports Writer Rick Gano's article.
Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Aric Almirola, Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson, Kenny Wallace, Kelly Bires, Michael Annett, and Danica Patrick.
As a result of Sadler's 11th place finish and Sorenson's sixth-place effort, the points standings take on a whole new look as the Nationwide circuit prepares to hit up the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. Here's a look at the unofficial top 10 points standings heading into Brooklyn, MI:
- Reed Sorenson
- Elliott Sadler
- Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
- Justin Allgaier
- Aric Almirola
- Jason Leffler
- Kenny Wallace
- Steve Wallace
- Brian Scott
- Michael Annett
Written by:
