Jeff Burton Leads Richard Childress Racing To Historic 1-2-3 Finish

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By Deb Williams

BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 16, 2008) – Twice in the final eight laps of Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway opportunity knocked for Jeff Burton and both times the Virginia native answered the call to emerge victorious in an historical 1-2-3 finish for Richard Childress Racing.

The stand-off between the have and have nots of fresh rubber was established during the ninth caution period that began on lap 491. Leader Tony Stewart, second place Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third were the only front-runners who elected not to pit. Burton, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle were among those who pitted for four fresh tires. When the race returned to green-flag conditions on lap 496, the top five, respectively, were Stewart, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick and Burton.

On lap 497, Hamlin raced into the lead on the outside of Stewart. Harvick was closing on Stewart and it was the scenario on lap 499 of the scheduled 500-lap race that provided Burton with his first opportunity. Harvick was attempting to slide under the second-place Stewart in turn two when the two banged together and Stewart spun, backing his Toyota into the wall. While Harvick wrestled his Chevrolet in an effort to regain control, teammate Burton charged underneath him to take second.

“I just lost it,” Harvick said on FOX immediately after climbing from his car. “I got up on the inside there and just flat out lost the thing. I was just trying to win the race. I hate it, but the part that ticks you off is the spotters up there making you think it's [derogatory remarks] coming from Tony. Tony and I can work it out. We don't need some idiot up there stirring things up. I just lost it.”

In Harvick's post-race interview in the media center, he explained his remarks about the spotters.

“I told my spotter to go over and tell him [Stewart's spotter] what happened,” Harvick said. “The first thing his spotter did was commence saying he was going to whip somebody's ass. If Tony didn't do it, he was going to do it. Tony and I are big boys. We can handle that. We don't need somebody who doesn't really have anything to do with anything; it really ticked me off. I'm to the point where I can talk about it, but when I got out of my car, I was more mad about that than I was anything.”

Stewart, who led the most laps – six times for 267 laps -- had little to say following the event.

“You never want to finish like that,” an extremely disappointed Stewart said on FOX after climbing from his car. “I thought I left him plenty of room. I don't know. I was far enough ahead of him that I didn't see where he hit me or when he hit me. I'm sure, somehow, it was my fault.”

The white-flag incident set up a green-white-checker finish on the 0.533-mile track known for its explosive finishes. When the race restarted on lap 505, Hamlin was leading, Burton second, Harvick third and Bowyer fourth. Earnhardt Jr. held fifth. After taking the green flag, Hamlin's Toyota suddenly slowed, providing Burton with his second opportunity. Burton zipped past Hamlin and held on to the checkered flag, taking his first-ever Bristol victory in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

“We put ourselves in position, and that's how you win these races,” said Burton, who tangled with defending series champion Jimmie Johnson on lap 376 and led only once – the event's final two laps. “We're not going to stand in here today and say we had the fastest car all day. We had good pit stops. We had good strategy. We did all the little things well. When you do all the little things well, a lot of times the big things take care of themselves. That's what happened for us today. We had some breaks, but we put ourselves in position to take advantage of the breaks.

“We did the little things right, and that's the sign of a team that's mature. That's the sign of a team that's ready to take advantage of situations. That's what I'm proud of.”

Hamlin, whose sixth-place finish was his best this season, attributed his loss to poor fuel pickup in his Toyota.

“Our cars just won't pick up fuel; low fuel,” said Hamlin, who led three times for 98 laps. “Anytime it's even within 10 laps, on a restart where our cars don't pick up fuel, everyone else's does. It cost us the race. I could have held those guys off. It's just a shame.”

The race was clearly a battle between Joe Gibbs Racing's Toyotas and RCR's Chevrolets. Stewart, Hamlin and Kyle Busch led a total of 372 laps in the 506-lap event, while Burton, Harvick and Bowyer totaled 115 laps in the No. 1 position.

For the 40-year-old Burton, it was his first Sprint Cup victory since last April at Texas Motor Speedway and made him the first driver age 40 or older to win at Bristol since 2000. Rusty Wallace swept the races that year, winning the August race at age 44.

With Burton's victory, Harvick's second-place finish and Bowyer's third, Childress had his first-ever 1-2-3 finish since the team became a three-car operation in 2001. Childress' team was a full-time single car operation from 1969-1996. He began fielding two cars full time in 1997 with the late Dale Earnhardt and Mike Skinner.

“You know, Bristol is a tough place sometimes to even finish. To have all three cars up 1-2-3 was great,” said Childress, who planned to leave Wednesday for a sheep hunting trip in Mongolia. “They were all three really good and I felt good how they ran in practice and the things we had going on. You know, there's a lot of hard work and dedication going on back at the shop. I couldn't be prouder.”

The Sprint Cup Series has Easter weekend off, then returns to action at Martinsville, Va., March 28-30.

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