Burton steals victory at Bristol

March 17, 2008

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Tony Stewart should have won the race. And when he didn't, it gave Denny Hamlin a clear shot at victory.

But the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers failed to seal the deal - again - at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, and Jeff Burton and his Richard Childress Racing teammates were there to capitalize yesterday in the Food City 500.

Burton scored his first win at Bristol, leading teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer to the first 1-2-3 sweep in RCR history by pouncing when the JGR drivers faltered at the very end.

"We did the little things right," Burton said. "That's the sign that this team's matured. That's the sign of a team that's ready to take advantage of situations. I won't lose sleep tonight because somebody says, 'We had a faster car.'

"All I know is we've got the trophy."

A year ago, Stewart and Hamlin combined to lead 434 of the 504 laps at Bristol before mechanical failures sabotaged their races.

This time, Stewart, Hamlin and Kyle Busch combined to lead 372 of the 506 laps, but Hamlin's sixth-place finish was all they had to show for it.

Busch's power steering failed, causing him to crash while he was leading midway through the race. Then Harvick wrecked Stewart with two laps to go, setting up a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish.

All Hamlin had to do was hold on for two laps and the win was his. But a fuel pickup problem on the restart allowed Burton to race past him and pull his RCR teammates along for the sweep.

"It's just a shame. We had another win taken away," Hamlin said. "Our cars just won't pick up fuel. Everyone else's does. It cost us the race. I could have held those guys off, as fast as the car went after it picked back up.

"This is so frustrating to have days like this."

Stewart led a race-high 267 laps - 10 more than he did in the event last year - but finished 14th because of questionable strategy and the contact with Harvick.

Busch wound up 17th but retained his hold atop the standings and leads Greg Biffle by 30 points.

Dale Jarrett finished 37th in the final start in a points race of his 24-year career. The former series champion is retiring this season and will race one last time in the All-Star race in May.

• Formula One Australian Grand Prix // McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the accident-filled season-opening race in Melbourne. Hamilton started from the pole position and avoided the carnage behind him for his fifth victory in 18 GP starts. The British driver, 23, was never seriously threatened before finishing 5.4 seconds ahead of BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in second place and 8.1 ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg in third.

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Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun

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