HOMESTEAD, Fla., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Jason Keller ran out of fuel entering the final lap Saturday as Scott Wimmer was able to make up a 23-second deficit to win the Ford 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
A final splash for fuel with 14 laps to go was enough to give Wimmer what he needed to get to the checkered flag. He finished ahead of Hank Parker Jr. and Joe Nemechek.
It was Wimmer's fourth win in eight races.
"What an awesome end to the year," he said. "We don't have a sponsor, but we have a lot of people that help us out a bunch. I'm real proud of these guys on the team and for keeping the rain off us, too.
"That last pit stop, we had a lug nut hang, but those guys rip it off every week. I'm thankful we got the gas in there when we did and were able to hold them off. We're going to for the Busch championship next year."
Greg Biffle, who clinched the Busch Series title last week in Phoenix, finished fourth.
"We came to Homestead to win the race," said Keller, who finished 15th. "We were close. We didn't come here to run second. I just fell a lap short. We couldn't win the championship and couldn't finish third, so I had nothing to lose. When you don't have anything to lose, you gamble."
With bad weather closing in on Homestead-Miami Speedway, the race started early in order to get the season finale at least to the halfway point before it would be stopped by rain.
Jeff Green started on the pole and took a sizeable lead while the rest of the field jockeyed for position on the flat racing surface that is slick by nature. But Bobby Hamilton Jr. was able to take the lead from Green on the third lap.
David Green crashed in the third turn on the 21st lap to bring out the first yellow flag of the race. The rear of Green's Chevrolet Monte Carlo was destroyed, but he was able to drive it back to the garage.
When the pits opened, the field made the first stops of the race, but Parker decided not to pit and was in the lead when the race resumed on lap 26.
Joe Buford spun out in the fourth turn on the 32nd lap to bring out the second caution of the race.
The green flag waved on lap 35 with Parker still in the lead without pitting. Michael Waltrip, who started 15th, made his way to the front of the field to take the lead on lap 39. It was the ninth Busch Series race he led this season.
Waltrip and Biffle dominated a long green flag portion of the race.
Waltrip pitted on lap 94 while leading and his crew put on four tires and added fuel, while some of the other drivers who pitted during that sequence stopped for two tires. That put Dave Blaney in the lead, but he pitted two laps later.
The race became official with Biffle leading the halfway point -- lap 100.
Kevin Grubb smacked the third-turn wall on lap 115 to bring out the third caution flag of the race.
Biffle led the lead pack down pit road during the caution. The green flag waved on lap 118 and Green raced past Biffle. But with a caution flag waving for rain, Biffle went to the outside of the fourth turn to pass Green and take the lead.
The pace car pulled off to resume the race on lap 127 with Biffle leading Green and Keller.
Biffle suffered a tire problem shortly after the race resumed and had to pit to change the right rear tires, putting him one lap down. Keller was in the lead with 50 laps to go, ahead of Waltrip.
With 37 laps left, Keller was 3 1/2 seconds ahead of Wimmer, closing in on a final pit stop for fuel for the race leaders.
Waltrip pitted for fuel with 16 laps remaining. Casey Mears was up to second place before he had to stop for fuel with seven laps to go.
It looked as if Keller had a clear path to victory before his engine sputtered when it ran out of fuel.
