Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/AR2006092400572_pf.html
DOVER, Del., Sept. 24 -- Jeff Burton didn't spin anybody out on his way to Victory Lane on Sunday at Dover International Speedway, and he didn't slam anybody into the wall, either. Instead, he pulled off his race-winning pass the honorable way, by testing and pressing front-runner Matt Kenseth lap after lap around the one-mile concrete oval until he was finally able to scoot his Chevrolet underneath Kenseth's Ford and snatch the lead with six laps to go.
It was a move that defined Burton's ethic of fair play, and this time it rewarded him handsomely, snapping a nearly five-year winless streak and vaulting him to the lead of NASCAR's 2006 title Chase with eight races remaining.
Kenseth, who led more than half the race (215 of 400 laps) in the day's best car, ran out of gas with three laps to go. He ducked into the pits for a splash of fuel, ruing his team's miscalculation over the radio with a terse, "This was stupid, guys." But he popped back on track to salvage a 10th-place finish and pull alongside Burton, whom he praised for racing him cleanly, to extend a high-five out the window.
"If I couldn't win, honestly, there's nobody else I'd rather see win the race," said Kenseth, who remained in third in the title hunt, knotted with rookie Denny Hamlin, who finished ninth.
Carl Edwards, who failed to qualify for NASCAR's postseason, finished second. And four-time champion Jeff Gordon came home third, delighted with a performance that nudged him to second in the standings.
Burton's victory was warmly received in the normally contentious NASCAR garage, and a parade of rivals filed into Victory Lane to congratulate him, including Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer.
Burton was particularly touched by Harvick's presence. His Richard Childress Racing teammate arrived at Dover as the sport's hottest driver and points leader, only to have his engine blow up and finish 32nd, which dumped him to fifth in the standings. "On a day where he could have just looked at himself, he came over and all but got in the car with me and said, 'Hey, I'm as happy right now for you as if I'd have won the race,' " Burton said of Harvick.
While it was smiles all around in Victory Lane, others saw their championship hopes scuttled during the 3-hour 34-minute race, which was slowed by 10 cautions for 48 laps.
"We're done," said Kyle Busch, after engine failure relegated him to a 40th-place finish.
Said Kasey Kahne, who came home 38th after plowing into Tony Stewart's spinning Chevrolet, "No more championship."
Dover was the second event in NASCAR's 10-race postseason. Conventional wisdom says that a title contender can overcome one bad finish during the Chase but not two poor finishes -- which is precisely what Busch and Kahne have had.
Jimmie Johnson only modestly helped his cause with a 13th-place finish, moving up one spot in the standings to eighth. It was a roller-coaster afternoon for Johnson, who was penalized early in the race when his crew let a tire roll out of his pit stall. After fighting his way back from 40th to second, he got out of sequence on pit stops and got shuffled out of the top 10 again.
"We didn't lose a lot, but we missed a chance to gain some points," Johnson said.
The race got off to a halting start, with a series of less-experienced drivers losing control and smacking the wall rounding the high-banked turns. Stewart's spin and crash on Lap 11, however, was uncharacteristic for the two-time defending champion.
"That's something you never see: Tony losing a car," Kahne said. "He just lost it. Things happen, and I was the car that hit him."
Kenseth and Greg Biffle, Roush Racing teammates, took turns swapping the lead once drivers settled in. What drama there was during the middle stages of the race was supplied by blown tires and blown engines, which sent one contender after another to the garage.
Just when it appeared the race would be nothing more than a battle of attrition, Burton and his crew chief, Scott Miller, fine-tuned the handling on his Chevy. With the car running the best it had all day, Burton worked his way to second with 25 laps remaining.
It was a classic duel of driving styles and strengths, with Kenseth's Ford better on the straightaways, and Burton's Chevy more explosive through the corners. Kenseth favored the high side of the track, while Burton hugged the bottom groove. And 'round and 'round they went, with Burton pulling up to Kenseth's bumper in the corners, and Kenseth pulling away down the straights. It went on that way for 20 laps until Burton finally drove a tick deeper into Turn 3 and wrested the lead entering the backstretch as the crowd roared.
"There are some races that I could have knocked somebody out of the way and won that race," said Burton, 39. "But when I look back on my career, I don't think I've gotten the short end of the stick. . . . I believe most people in this sport drive you the way you drive them."
DOVER, Del., Sept. 24 -- Jeff Burton didn't spin anybody out on his way to Victory Lane on Sunday at Dover International Speedway, and he didn't slam anybody into the wall, either. Instead, he pulled off his race-winning pass the honorable way, by testing and pressing front-runner Matt Kenseth lap after lap around the one-mile concrete oval until he was finally able to scoot his Chevrolet underneath Kenseth's Ford and snatch the lead with six laps to go.
It was a move that defined Burton's ethic of fair play, and this time it rewarded him handsomely, snapping a nearly five-year winless streak and vaulting him to the lead of NASCAR's 2006 title Chase with eight races remaining.
Kenseth, who led more than half the race (215 of 400 laps) in the day's best car, ran out of gas with three laps to go. He ducked into the pits for a splash of fuel, ruing his team's miscalculation over the radio with a terse, "This was stupid, guys." But he popped back on track to salvage a 10th-place finish and pull alongside Burton, whom he praised for racing him cleanly, to extend a high-five out the window.
"If I couldn't win, honestly, there's nobody else I'd rather see win the race," said Kenseth, who remained in third in the title hunt, knotted with rookie Denny Hamlin, who finished ninth.
Carl Edwards, who failed to qualify for NASCAR's postseason, finished second. And four-time champion Jeff Gordon came home third, delighted with a performance that nudged him to second in the standings.
Burton's victory was warmly received in the normally contentious NASCAR garage, and a parade of rivals filed into Victory Lane to congratulate him, including Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer.
Burton was particularly touched by Harvick's presence. His Richard Childress Racing teammate arrived at Dover as the sport's hottest driver and points leader, only to have his engine blow up and finish 32nd, which dumped him to fifth in the standings. "On a day where he could have just looked at himself, he came over and all but got in the car with me and said, 'Hey, I'm as happy right now for you as if I'd have won the race,' " Burton said of Harvick.
While it was smiles all around in Victory Lane, others saw their championship hopes scuttled during the 3-hour 34-minute race, which was slowed by 10 cautions for 48 laps.
"We're done," said Kyle Busch, after engine failure relegated him to a 40th-place finish.
Said Kasey Kahne, who came home 38th after plowing into Tony Stewart's spinning Chevrolet, "No more championship."
Dover was the second event in NASCAR's 10-race postseason. Conventional wisdom says that a title contender can overcome one bad finish during the Chase but not two poor finishes -- which is precisely what Busch and Kahne have had.
Jimmie Johnson only modestly helped his cause with a 13th-place finish, moving up one spot in the standings to eighth. It was a roller-coaster afternoon for Johnson, who was penalized early in the race when his crew let a tire roll out of his pit stall. After fighting his way back from 40th to second, he got out of sequence on pit stops and got shuffled out of the top 10 again.
"We didn't lose a lot, but we missed a chance to gain some points," Johnson said.
The race got off to a halting start, with a series of less-experienced drivers losing control and smacking the wall rounding the high-banked turns. Stewart's spin and crash on Lap 11, however, was uncharacteristic for the two-time defending champion.
"That's something you never see: Tony losing a car," Kahne said. "He just lost it. Things happen, and I was the car that hit him."
Kenseth and Greg Biffle, Roush Racing teammates, took turns swapping the lead once drivers settled in. What drama there was during the middle stages of the race was supplied by blown tires and blown engines, which sent one contender after another to the garage.
Just when it appeared the race would be nothing more than a battle of attrition, Burton and his crew chief, Scott Miller, fine-tuned the handling on his Chevy. With the car running the best it had all day, Burton worked his way to second with 25 laps remaining.
It was a classic duel of driving styles and strengths, with Kenseth's Ford better on the straightaways, and Burton's Chevy more explosive through the corners. Kenseth favored the high side of the track, while Burton hugged the bottom groove. And 'round and 'round they went, with Burton pulling up to Kenseth's bumper in the corners, and Kenseth pulling away down the straights. It went on that way for 20 laps until Burton finally drove a tick deeper into Turn 3 and wrested the lead entering the backstretch as the crowd roared.
"There are some races that I could have knocked somebody out of the way and won that race," said Burton, 39. "But when I look back on my career, I don't think I've gotten the short end of the stick. . . . I believe most people in this sport drive you the way you drive them."
