The Associated Press

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Matt Kenseth turned a two-tire stop into his fifth victory of the season, while Mark Martin edged closer to Tony Stewart in the battle for the NASCAR Winston Cup title.

Kenseth got out of the pits first after the leaders pitted on lap 261 of the 312-lap Checker Auto Parts 500K, and stayed out front the rest of the way Sunday at Phoenix International Speedway.

Stewart and Martin ran in the top 10 through most of the 500-kilometer race. Martin's fourth-place finish, combined with Stewart's eighth-place showing, chopped Stewart's lead from 112 to 89 points with only next Sunday's race in Homestead, Fla., remaining.

"We made some adjustments on our last stop and the car just wasn't right," Stewart said. "We didn't get hurt too much today. Now, we're going to a track I really like."

Stewart won the 1999 and 2000 races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and was denied a victory last year when he was dominated early but faded after his last pit stop to finish 19th.

No matter what Martin does next week, Stewart will win the title if he doesn't lead a lap and finishes 22nd or better, leads one lap and finishes 24th or better, or leads the most laps and finishes 25th or better.

"We had a good car, just not good enough to win," said Martin, who has been a series runner-up three times but never a champion. "If we could have got out front, we had a chance, but we just couldn't."

Asked about his chances for next week, Martin smiled and repeated his answer to the previous question.

Kenseth, who had been running fifth early in the race, fell to 11th after running out of gas and having to coast to the pits for his first stop on lap 122.

He kept his Roush Racing Ford near the front, though, and was third when the fourth and final caution flag of the race came out on lap 258 after Jason Leffler hit Christian Fittipaldi, a CART star making his first Winston Cup start, and sent him into the wall.

While Kenseth and Rusty Wallace each put on only two fresh tires, the rest of the challengers changed four, and Kenseth and Wallace hit the track 1-2.

That's the way it stayed to the end, with Kenseth beating Wallace's No.2 Ford to the finish line by 1.344-seconds - about half a straightaway on the 1-mile oval.

"The last pit stop was important," Kenseth said. "After we ran out of gas we didn't get a lap down, and that was a big help, too."

The winner said he was fortunate not to lose a lap because he ran out of gas just before the finish line and his engine died by the time he got to Turn 2.

"I slowed extra careful when I got to the pits, too, because I didn't have a tach and I didn't want to get caught speeding," Kenseth said. "We were fortunate to be running in the top five before we ran out of gas and that's why we didn't lose a lap."

Wallace was frustrated as his string of winless races climbed to 61.

"We gained a lot of points, but we haven't won yet," said Wallace, who has 54 career victories. "We're getting closer and closer and closer. We've got one race to go and, if it's meant to be, it will happen. I'd really hate to see that streak of 16 straight years with at least one win go away."

Gordon finished third, followed by Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Busch and Stewart.

The battle for third place in the standings also got tighter, with Busch just eight points ahead of both rookie Jimmie Johnson and Wallace and nine points in front of Gordon.