Greg Biffle, who finished fifth after running out of fuel on the backstretch of the final lap, felt he would have been able to make it to the chequered flag under power if he hadn't gotten caught up in his race with Jimmie Johnson in Michigan.

Biffle started saving fuel at the outset of the final 44-lap green-flag run, but in trying to run Johnson's pace over the last 20 laps, he didn't save enough.

“We had to save that whole round,” Biffle said. “We were a couple of laps short. We would've made it, but the 48 (Johnson) came up there and put pressure on us. I felt like I had a faster car than the 48, but I knew running that pace we weren't going to make it, so I backed it off a little bit.”

But when Biffle saw Johnson's car get a little loose, he had second thoughts.

“I think I can get him. Can I try it, Erwin?” Biffle said over the radio to his crew chief, Greg Erwin.

“Go for it,” Erwin responded.

Biffle's enthusiasm cost him an opportunity to win his first race since last September.

“There was only three laps, but if I would've let the 48 go — if I would've stayed with my programme — I would've made it, no problem,” Biffle said. “I don't know if I would've beat the 5 (Martin), though, because I would've had to pick up (the pace) when he came along.”

by Reid Spencer/Sporting News