Published: Monday, September 25, 2006
Burton in edge-of-your seat victory
Matt Kenseth ran out of gas and finished 10th in the Dover 400.
By GREG ENGLE
SPORTING NEWS NASCAR WIRE SERVICE
DOVER, Del. — Whenever Jeff Burton retires from NASCAR, he'll have many great memories. No doubt one of the most special ones will be Sunday's win in the Dover 400.
Burton fought an edge-of-your-seat battle with Matt Kenseth at Dover International Speedway in the closing laps to end a 175-race winless drought that stretched back to October 2001. It also gave Burton a tiny lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings.
With about 20 laps to go, Burton began doing everything he could to get around the Roush Racing driver, but Kenseth hung tough. Finally, with six laps to go, Burton passed Kenseth and from there never looked back.
Edwards runnerup
Burton crossed the line seven seconds ahead of second place Carl Edwards. Edwards inherited the runner-up spot after Kenseth ran out of fuel on the white flag lap. Kenseth managed to hang on and come home 10th.
"Matt is such a great racer and that is such a great race team that I knew when I got to him, it wasn't going to be easy because he was running the top and I was running the bottom," Burton said. "Finally I just drove in there a little deeper than I should have and the back end rolled around, and I just got in the gas and it stuck. It was just our time."
Kenseth stopped on the frontstretch after the race and congratulated Burton.
"It was fun," Kenseth said. "I was hogging a lot of the track and I was real tight. If I couldn't win, honestly, there's nobody else I'd rather see win the race."
Burton made the biggest leap forward in the standings, going from fifth to first, and now leads second place Jeff Gordon by six points with eight races remaining. Gordon finished third Sunday.
The Chase crowd
Though Burton had a flawless day, several of Burton's fellow Chase competitors couldn't say the same.
Kasey Kahne suffered trouble the earliest. On Lap 13, Tony Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet lost grip between Turns 3 and 4, sliding up the track and right in front of Kahne, pinning the No. 9 Dodge in the wall. Kahne finished 38th because of it and is now 182 points behind Burton.
"I had nowhere to go," Kahne said. "I wanted to go low. I wanted to go high. I couldn't go anywhere. I was racing with other cars, and I was right in the middle of it. I was just trying to get to the front, and I couldn't get there. That's something you never see, Tony [Stewart] losing a car. He just lost it."
Kyle Busch also suffered another blow to his Chase hopes when his engine failed on Lap 106, finally heading to the garage on Lap 110 to score only his second DNF of the year.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who ran among the top five in the first half of the race, had a tire go down on Lap 281 and was forced in for a green flag pit stop.
An untimely caution shortly after put him two laps down. He would lose another lap later and struggled home to 21st.
Harvick's bad luck
On Lap 366, Kevin Harvick, who started the day with the points lead, saw his engine expire.
He rolled silently down pit road and into the garage, where he would finish 32nd.
He's now 54 points behind Burton.
But as for Burton, his win gave Richard Childress Racing the weekend sweep at Dover; Clint Bowyer won the Busch Series race here on Saturday.
"When things aren't going well, you just can't quit; you have to keep fighting," Burton said.
"I will take the points lead and a great weekend for RCR with the sweep. It is really good."
Monday, September 25, 2006
Matt Kenseth ran out of gas and finished 10th in the Dover 400.
By GREG ENGLE
SPORTING NEWS NASCAR WIRE SERVICE
DOVER, Del. — Whenever Jeff Burton retires from NASCAR, he'll have many great memories. No doubt one of the most special ones will be Sunday's win in the Dover 400.
Burton fought an edge-of-your-seat battle with Matt Kenseth at Dover International Speedway in the closing laps to end a 175-race winless drought that stretched back to October 2001. It also gave Burton a tiny lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings.
With about 20 laps to go, Burton began doing everything he could to get around the Roush Racing driver, but Kenseth hung tough. Finally, with six laps to go, Burton passed Kenseth and from there never looked back.
Edwards runnerup
Burton crossed the line seven seconds ahead of second place Carl Edwards. Edwards inherited the runner-up spot after Kenseth ran out of fuel on the white flag lap. Kenseth managed to hang on and come home 10th.
"Matt is such a great racer and that is such a great race team that I knew when I got to him, it wasn't going to be easy because he was running the top and I was running the bottom," Burton said. "Finally I just drove in there a little deeper than I should have and the back end rolled around, and I just got in the gas and it stuck. It was just our time."
Kenseth stopped on the frontstretch after the race and congratulated Burton.
"It was fun," Kenseth said. "I was hogging a lot of the track and I was real tight. If I couldn't win, honestly, there's nobody else I'd rather see win the race."
Burton made the biggest leap forward in the standings, going from fifth to first, and now leads second place Jeff Gordon by six points with eight races remaining. Gordon finished third Sunday.
The Chase crowd
Though Burton had a flawless day, several of Burton's fellow Chase competitors couldn't say the same.
Kasey Kahne suffered trouble the earliest. On Lap 13, Tony Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet lost grip between Turns 3 and 4, sliding up the track and right in front of Kahne, pinning the No. 9 Dodge in the wall. Kahne finished 38th because of it and is now 182 points behind Burton.
"I had nowhere to go," Kahne said. "I wanted to go low. I wanted to go high. I couldn't go anywhere. I was racing with other cars, and I was right in the middle of it. I was just trying to get to the front, and I couldn't get there. That's something you never see, Tony [Stewart] losing a car. He just lost it."
Kyle Busch also suffered another blow to his Chase hopes when his engine failed on Lap 106, finally heading to the garage on Lap 110 to score only his second DNF of the year.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who ran among the top five in the first half of the race, had a tire go down on Lap 281 and was forced in for a green flag pit stop.
An untimely caution shortly after put him two laps down. He would lose another lap later and struggled home to 21st.
Harvick's bad luck
On Lap 366, Kevin Harvick, who started the day with the points lead, saw his engine expire.
He rolled silently down pit road and into the garage, where he would finish 32nd.
He's now 54 points behind Burton.
But as for Burton, his win gave Richard Childress Racing the weekend sweep at Dover; Clint Bowyer won the Busch Series race here on Saturday.
"When things aren't going well, you just can't quit; you have to keep fighting," Burton said.
"I will take the points lead and a great weekend for RCR with the sweep. It is really good."
Monday, September 25, 2006
Whenever Jeff Burton retires from NASCAR, he'll have many great memories. No doubt one of the most special ones will be...
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