KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Greg Biffle had held off Tony Stewart and the rest of the field for much of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race after changing only two tires during some key pit stops.
But as Biffle pulled his No. 16 Ford into his pit stall for his final stop at Kansas Speedway, Biffle wanted four tires to finish the race. His crew chief, Greg Erwin, wanted to change only two.
Biffle overruled him and stuck four fingers out the window as he rolled to a stop -- and it cost him dearly.
Stewart's crew changed only two tires on his Chevrolet, enabling Stewart to leave the pits ahead of Biffle and the other leaders and then win the third race in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup championship playoff.
With his victory in the Price Chopper 400, Stewart -- a two-time champion who formed his own team this year -- climbed one spot to fourth place in the 10-race Chase and slashed his deficit to 67 points from 106 behind leader Mark Martin.
Martin finished the race seventh in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on a crisp, clear day in front of 100,000 at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval.
Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, Martin's teammate, had the strongest car for part of the race and led 53 of the 267 laps. But he finished ninth and remained second in the Chase, 18 points behind Martin. Johnson had arrived in Kansas only 10 points back.
And Juan Pablo Montoya kept the third spot in the Chase, 51 points behind Martin, with a fourth-place finish in the race.
Stewart's win was his fourth of the season and his first in the Chase, which continues next Sunday with the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
"We had a real good car on two tires," Stewart said, adding that it was "a no-brainer" to change two on the final stop because passing was difficult and track position was paramount.
"It's the perfect scenario for us right now," Stewart said. "This team is going to have some momentum going into California next week."
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, another Hendrick driver, passed Biffle after the final restart and tried to catch Stewart. But Gordon finished second and is now seventh in the Chase, 103 points behind Martin.
"As I got closer to [Stewart], my car just really started getting tighter and tighter," Gordon said. "As long as he didn't make any big mistakes, I wasn't going to catch him."
