A few years ago, Jeff Burton's days at Roush Racing were winding down and he looked like he was finished after several successful years in NASCAR Nextel Cup racing. But Burton has had a lot to do with the revitalization of Richard Childress Racing. He's helped his own career and the team in general. He's also highly respected among his peers and he received a lot of praise for not taking Kyle Busch out at Memphis. But when will he win a race? How about Sunday's Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway? Friday's qualifying was rained out and that gave Jeff Gordon on the pole.
The race started with a lap 1 crash. David Ragan's #6 AAA Ford bumped JJ Yeley's #18 Interstate Batteries Chevy into the wall and took both guys out. Ricky Rudd's #88 Snickers Ford slowed down but was hit from behind by Casey Mears' #25 National Guard/GMAC Chevy and sent spinning on top of Ragan. The beginning of the race was boring as Jeff Gordon's #24 Dupont Chevy took the lead. He led until Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s #8 Budweiser Chevy took the lead on lap 153.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to lead with Jimmie Johnson's #48 Lowe's Chevy second. On lap 235, Johnson tells his crew that his engine is dying. He starts dropping back. Juan Pablo Montoya's #42 Texaco Havoline Dodge & Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot Chevy pass Johnson while battling for position. On lap 240, Montoya spins out Stewart and Johnson can't avoid hitting Stewart. Johnson finished 38th. Stewart was able to stay on the lead lap. Dale Earnhardt Jr. still leads. On lap 249, Stewart makes contact with Joe Nemechek's #13 CertainTeed Chevy and cuts a tire. Check out the video of Tony Stewart's troubles. Montoya did mess up and Stewart wasn't happy with him.
Meanwhile, Kurt Busch's #2 Miller Lite Dodge takes the lead. Tony Stewart gets loose and spins on lap 253. He doesn't hit anything but Kyle Busch's #5 Cheez-It/Carquest Chevy rams Dale Earnhardt Jr. from behind. Earnhardt finishes 36th & Busch finishes 37th. What happened was Earnhardt saw Stewart spin and slowed down but Busch couldn't see Earnhardt through the smoke. Most guys pit but Kurt Busch & Mark Martin's #01 US Army Chevy stay out. Bad luck kills Busch at this point. He makes a green flag pit stop on lap 292 and a debris caution comes out on lap 293. This puts him back in the pack and he never recovers and finishes 11th.
The leaders make final pit stops and Jeff Gordon leads. Mark Martin is second so not pitting earlier worked out for him. Matt Kenseth's #17 DeWalt Tools Ford is charging and moves up to second. Kenseth takes the lead on lap 318. Jeff Burton's #31 Prilosec OTC Chevy is charging too and he passes Gordon for second on lap 322. Burton catches Kenseth and they battle for the lead with six laps left. Finally on the final lap, Burton gets underneath Kenseth. He doesn't touch him but he does move him up the track and gets the win on the final lap.
Congratulations to Jeff Burton, crew chief Scott Miller & car owner Richard Childress. It was a great win for Burton and he passed Kenseth clean. Big top ten finishes for Martin Truex Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya & David Stremme. Jeff Gordon still leads the points with Jeff Burton eight points behind. Nextel Cup is in Phoenix Saturday night. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.31/Jeff Burton/Prilosec OTC/Chevy/Richard Childress
2.17/Matt Kenseth/DeWalt Tools/Ford/Jack Roush
3.01/Mark Martin/US Army/Chevy/Bobby Ginn
4.24/Jeff Gordon/Dupont/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
5.26/Jamie McMurray/Crown Royal/Ford/Jack Roush
6.16/Greg Biffle/Ameriquest-3M/Ford/Jack Roush
7.1/Martin Truex Jr./Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
8.42/Juan Pablo Montoya/Texaco Havoline/Dodge/Chip Ganassi
9.11/Denny Hamlin/FedEx/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
10.42/David Stremme/Coors Light/Dodge/Chip Ganassi
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