Burton's Win Completes RCR Sweep at Bristol
| Race/Date: | Food City 500/March 16, 2008 |
| Location: | Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway |
| Start Position: | Eighth |
| Finish Position: | First |
| Points Position: | Fourth (Gained one spot) |
Although Jeff Burton led only two laps during Sunday's Food City 500, it was the final two laps that catapulted him to his first career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. Burton beat Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer to the checkers, giving RCR their first ever one-two-three finish.
AT&T Racing's triumph put an exclamation point on the team's already impressive start to the young 2008 season, posting their second top-five and fifth top-15 finish in as many Cup Series starts this season. Burton's 20th NASCAR Cup Series win also gave Chevrolet their first victory of the season and propelled him one spot, to fourth, in NASCAR's championship point standings. He currently sits 37 markers behind leader Kyle Busch.
For the second time this season, rain forced NASCAR to set the field according to the rule book and afforded the South Boston, Va., native the eighth starting spot for the scheduled 500-lap event.
In the early goings Sunday afternoon, before a crowd estimated at just over 160,000, Burton quickly informed crew chief Scott Miller that he was experiencing a loose-handling AT&T Chevrolet.
His dose of relief came on lap 50 when NASCAR threw a competition caution due to limited practice time on Saturday when showers entered the Bristol area. Miller called for four fresh Goodyear tires, including air pressure adjustments to the left-sides, a chassis adjustment and fuel. Quick service by the AT&T over-the-crew allowed Burton to restart sixth in the running order.
The 2008 Food City 500 winner felt right at home as he never raced outside the top eight for the remainder of the race.
Throughout the middle stages of the 266.5-mile spring classic at “Thunder Valley,” Burton would hit pit road three different times in hopes of tightening up his No. 31 machine and thanks to sound work by the AT&T pit crew, he found himself sitting in third on the day's seventh restart on lap 287.
A few laps later leader Busch lost power steering and control of his machine, bringing out the day's seventh caution flag. Miller kept his driver on the racing service and returned to green flag racing on lap 304 running second.
Over the next 71 laps, Burton would lose one spot but kept pace with the leaders. Fourth-place runner Jimmie Johnson tried to make a pass on the 2007 Samsung 500 winner on lap 375 but when he dove to the inside, he tapped the left quarter panel on the AT&T Chevy sending Burton sideways. Quick work by the veteran driver kept his Chevy from spinning but the tap was just enough to send Johnson's machine around, bringing out the eighth caution flag.
Burton peeled off the racing surface when pit road opened on lap 377. Still fighting with a loose-handling race car, Miller called for slight air pressure adjustments to all four Goodyear tires and a chassis adjustment in hopes of aiding the machine. Burton restarted third on lap 381.
The 2007 championship contender raced in the top five for the next 100 circuits, now reporting a tight-handling race car. Luck was on AT&T's side when the field slowed for the ninth time for debris on lap 485.
Miller summoned Burton to pit road for the final time in hopes that fresh rubber would pay off for him in the end. The leaders opted not to pit which sent Burton back to sixth with only five green flag laps remaining.
Burton rocketed through the field and was third on lap 499 when RCR teammate Harvick got together with Tony Stewart, bringing out the day's final caution period and setting the tone a green-white-checkered finish.
Denny Hamlin led the field back to green on lap 504 but a problem in his fuel line stopped his car from coming up to speed and the 40-year-old driver passed him for the lead coming out of turn four. Burton cautiously drove his line for the next 16 seconds and took the checkers with RCR teammates Harvick and Bowyer in tow.
Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five finishers.
Following a weekend off, the short-track season continues when NASCAR's premier circuit heads for the half-mile, paper clip-shaped oval in Martinsville, Va.
The Goody's Cool Orange 500 from Martinsville Speedway will be televised live on FOX Sunday, March 30 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for round six of the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series championship will air live on SPEED Friday, March 28 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
“It was a good day for the AT&T team. We put ourselves in position and that's how you win these races. 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. That's how you win these races. Rarely do you see a team who doesn't run very well win races. You have to put yourself in position over and over and over. That's how you win them and I'm proud to say we did that today.”
SCOTT MILLER QUOTE:
“Well, we ran in the top five, six most of the day. We weren't the best car but at times we were really close and didn't have the track position. At the end, the opportunity presented itself for us to try to make something happen. Where we were running, it turned out to be a pretty easy call for us. We weren't going to win from where we were whether we stayed out or whether we didn't. Our best chance to make something happen was to do what we did. Then circumstances in those last five laps worked out to our benefit, which was really nice.”
RICHARD CHILDRESS QUOTE:
“It was a great weekend for RCR and I'm really proud of all three teams. We were in a position to win today with Jeff and he drove a great, smart race all day. Bristol is a tough place sometimes to even finish. To have all three cars end up one-two-three was great. I'm really proud of everybody at RCR for everything they've done and AT&T for sponsoring our car. It's just a great time for RCR. Hopefully we can win more of them.”
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