Chase Race Nine:Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway almost to prove a salvation for Denny Hamlin who was seeking to celebrate his first title after leading the race for a race-high 190 laps! But Jimmie Johnson proved lucky than ever as Hamlin left short on fuel at the end of a race he had dominated while Edwards, Johnson and Kevin Harvick were conserving fuel after pit stops under caution on Lap 224. And Johnson, the four-time defending Cup Series champion, who was chasing Hamlin down for the chase and without leading a single lap in a speedway he used to dominate in the past 3 chase races, finished a top-5 while his rival was left 12th trimming the gap between them in only 15 points ahead of season and chase finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick follows 3rd in the standings, only 46 points behind Hamlin, retaning within title range. 
Pole-sitter Edwards crossed the finish line 4.77 seconds ahead of runner-up Ryan Newman to break a winless streak of 70 races, dating to Homestead in November 2008. Edwards squeezed 88 laps out of his last tank of gas to win for the 17th time in his career, completing another victorious Nationwide Series race.
Joey Logano and Greg Biffle finished third and fourth, respectively, followed by Johnson and Harvick. Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray completed the top 10.
Hamlin radioed to crew chief Mike Ford after learning he had finished 12th.
"Everybody made it on fuel -- is that what you're telling me?"
Ford replied:
"Good job today, man. I know that was ugly. That's something we've got to work on."
Hamlin kept asking:
"What do we have to work on?".
And Ford replied:
"Mileage was awful.
Indeed it was. Ford told Hamlin he was 12 laps short on fuel after the pit stop on Lap 224. Contrast that to Edwards, who raced Hamlin hard and passed him for the lead on Lap 266 and made it to the end of the race despite conserving fuel for only half of the last green-flag run.
Edwards commented:
"I wasn't sure exactly what our status was. I don't think [crew chief] Bob [Osborne] wanted to say it over the radio, or he just didn't want to tell me, but I didn't know what was going on. I thought we were 12 [laps] short, and the caution came out [on Lap 234], so I thought we were maybe six short or something like that.
So when they dropped the green [on Lap 240], I started racing pretty hard, and I felt like I was a little faster than Denny, but then I realized, 'Maybe he's saving a little fuel, so I better save some.' So I was saving. And then Kyle was falling back even farther behind me, and I thought, 'OK, these guys are all saving fuel,' and then Bob started telling me lap times, so I thought, 'Why is he telling me lap times? Maybe he wants me to race here.'
We had to establish the fact that he wanted me to race them, so that's when I drove by Denny. ... I only saved fuel for about half of that last run."
Even as he was in gas-conservation mode inside his car, Johnson recognized the magnitude of his gamble. Failure meant the end to his hopes for a fifth title.
"If we ran out, yeah, we would have lost the chance to be the champions. But that kind of left my mind, and I really started focusing on what I needed to do to save gas. Really tried to eliminate my thoughts, any negative thoughts in my mind. Just save fuel ... what I needed to do on the race track to save fuel.
Before I knew it, the laps went by pretty quick -- worked themselves down to the white flag. Once I came off of Turn 2 and down the back, I felt pretty good I'd make it to the start/finish line ahead of the 11 [Hamlin].
My emotions tried to get the best of me. I was on the edge of my seat, but I kept talking myself off the ledge."
