LOUDON, N.H. – You can bet that it will happen.

Someday, a NASCAR Winston Cup driver will show up at the track with the best car. He’ll make all the best moves, stroll his car down pit road to be serviced by the best team and show the cameras his best smile after flat-footing it all the way to the checkered flag.

That’s still a viable recipe for success in big-league stock car racing.

Not lately, though.

For the third consecutive week, the reading on a driver’s calculator proved every ounce as important as the ones on his dashboard. Jimmie Johnson coaxed 96 laps out of his final tank of fuel and last set of Goodyear tires Sunday to win the New England 300 on fumes before more than 100,000 spectators at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Johnson was one of about a dozen contending drivers to make his final pit stop when NASCAR yellow-flagged the race on lap 204 to pick up a hose that flew off the car driven by Terry Labonte.

From there, the Californian carefully threaded his Chevrolet Monte Carlo through traffic and watched another 12 lead-lap cars make their final stop under caution on lap 234. He passed Ryan Newman for the lead on lap 258, then overcame a late charge by Kevin Harvick and his uncertain fuel situation to pick up his second win of the season and fifth of his brief career.

“I think sound pit strategy played into it,” said Johnson. “We pitted at the last possible second and had just enough fuel to finish the race. I had my eye on the mirror, checking out who was coming while trying to conserve as much fuel as possible.”

Thirsty tanks have been a focal point of every Winston Cup finish this month.

Greg Biffle won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona on July 5 when he was able to stretch his final tank of gas longer than pre-race favorites Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip.

Harvick ran out of fuel with less than three laps remaining at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., last Sunday. Newman’s more conservative stretch run made him a race winner for the third time this season.

This time, Harvick made the nearly 100-mile run to the finish around the 1.058-mile NHIS oval without refueling and produced his best finish of the season.

Following runner-up Harvick were Winston Cup point Matt Kenseth, Newman and Robby Gordon.

Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth ahead of Dale Jarrett, Steve Park, Jeff Burton and Biffle.

“It’s great to come to New Hampshire and run up front in both races,” said Harvick, who also finished second in Saturday’s Busch Series race. “We’ve been around the top five the last three or four weeks, so we’ll get one of these sooner or later.”

Two drivers who didn’t play the mileage game to perfection were Jeff Gordon and Newburgh’s Ricky Craven.

Gordon, a four-time series champion and part owner of Johnson’s winning ride, had a dominant Chevy of his own, leading 133 laps. Gordon was leading with Craven second when Christian Fittipaldi crashed on lap 233.

They used the resulting caution to make what was, for each of them, a necessary final stop.

With 33 cars still on the lead lap at that point, it was a costly visit. Gordon spent the remainder of the race mired in traffic and finished 24th, the final car to complete all 300 laps. He escorted Johnson across the finish line, almost a full circuit behind his protégé and Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

Craven only made it back to 21st.

“I never would have expected a fuel mileage race to go our way,” said Johnson. “Everyone knows these Hendrick cars have tremendous horsepower, but we’re not known for conserving fuel.”

Not that Johnson lucked into this victory by any stretch. He spent 272 of 300 laps in the top 10, more than any other driver.

Starting fourth, Johnson charged to second in six laps and spent the early stages in Gordon’s tire tracks.

He won a tense skirmish with Harvick, pulling into the lead for the first time on lap 81 after four rugged laps of side-by-side racing.

Johnson replicated that move deeper in the field during the final green flag run.

“I thought when I got around Kevin late in the race that it could be for the win,” Johnson said.

The highly publicized recent resurfacing of the turns at NHIS made it slightly easier for drivers to pass their competition.

Track position was priceless as ever, though. Drivers and their crew chiefs spent virtually every pit stop weighing the pros and cons of changing four tires versus two, or taking fuel only and leaving the rubber alone.

That resulted in a mixed bag of drivers sharing time at the front of the pack.

“On four new tires, we had a pretty competitive car,” said Kenseth, who extended his series lead to 234 points over Gordon. “You could pass people, but if somebody didn’t want to cut you a break they could make it tough on you.”

Part of that is the personality of a flat track, an acquired taste for many modern drivers who prefer high banking and wide passing lanes.

“Flat tracks aren’t my specialty,” Johnson said. “My two years running the ASA series taught me a lot, but they’re certainly not my favorite.”

Sophomore Winston Cup driver Johnson credited chief mechanic Chad Knaus for his positive reinforcement at NHIS. Knaus also had a hand in fostering his driver’s conservative approach.

“He had me convinced that it was OK, that we had enough fuel to make it,” said Johnson. “Then toward the end of the race he was kind of getting after me to be careful.”

And with that, slow and steady won a Winston Cup race. Again.