LFL: Burton Wins Lowe's, Now 2nd in Chase

FanHouse's Geoffrey Miller is at the track in Concord, N.C. for Saturday night's Bank of America 500 in full fan mode. He's hoping to avoid Kevin Harvick's motor coach driver from his location in the Ford Grandstand, Section I.

Jeff Burton made a valiant effort to catch Kyle Busch at the end of Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway but came up short.

Saturday night, the rest of the Sprint Cup field was coming up short on a gambling Jeff Burton.

Burton took his second win of the 2008 season Saturday night at LMS in the Bank of America 500 after his crew chief Scott Miller made a risky call to take no tires and gas only on the leader's final pit stop, giving the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet the lead for the final time.

Burton had led prior to the final pit stop, but he was the only car in contention who didn't take tires, seemingly leaving the door open for the final 33 laps to those behind him who took two or four new tires on the last stop. However, the aerodynamics of the car of tomorrow at the 1.5-mile tracks reared its ugly head and all that mattered for Burton was the clean air -- just as it had for each leader all night long.

Aside from picking up his third career win at LMS and first in the fall edition of the Sprint Cup Series race at the track, Burton closed ground on Chase for the Sprint Cup leader Jimmie Johnson, and more importantly, moved into second place in the standings.

Burton led 58 laps Saturday night at LMS, third to Jimmie Johnson (67) and Brian Vickers (64).

Johnson appeared ready to retake command after the final pit stop put him on Burton's bumper at the green flag with two fresh right side tires. The No. 48 pulled alongside Burton's Chevrolet for several laps after the green, but Johnson, who had an extremely loose race car, nearly lost it multiple times and eventually let Burton go.

After the race, Johnson said was "pissed" about the way his car handled after slipping to sixth. Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray all passed Johnson to secure Top-5 finishes, respectively.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-12-2008 @ 8:49PM

Mike LeVan said...

Congratulations to Jeff Burton. While I generally do not pull for him, I like the way that he carries himself. We are now half way thru the chase and I was bored so I decided to do a little math. As I am no fan of the chase format I wanted to know where the drivers would stand under the old points system. While I may have made an error or two, I wanted to share the results.
Johnson 4414
K. Busch 4345
Edwards 4326
Burton 4193
Biffle 4052
Earnhardt Jr 4002
Harvick 3954
Stewart 3930
Gordon 3854
Bowyer 3799
Hamlin 3723
Kenseth 3650

Take note that under the old system the top three drivers are within 100 points of each other. Under the Chase format there are 4. It should also be noted that JJ is in first place no matter which system you use. So, tell me again why we had to change a system that always awarded the Cup to the driver that proved he was the best for the entire season.
MBL

10-12-2008 @ 9:16PM

Oops, under the chase format the top THREE drivers are all within 100 points, just like the old system.

10-12-2008 @ 9:13PM

Mike said...

Oops, there are THREE drivers within 100 points under BOTH systems.
MBL

10-13-2008 @ 6:18AM

annaseitter said...

OOPS UNDER THE OLD SYSTEM DOES NOT MATTER.
OOPS UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM DOES NOT MATTER EITHER except to nazcar.
OOPS under both system the only things it matters is more power to the regime of hilton h. barby d, french f. and pamper-town.
OOPS MIKE I JUST TOUGHT: going by the same logic as you point up above last year than JJ WOULD STILL HAD WON THE CHAMP. NO MATTER HOW GOOD OF ASEASON JG
was having, JJ would still beat him in points; chase or not chase. Right?. Hard to believe JJ gots more points than KYLE this year. ARE you sure there included is one of the few mistakes you mentioned, that could be in your above listing?
just wondering.....

10-13-2008 @ 6:19AM

WELL, NEITHER ONE A DRIVER THAT I PULL FOR, BUT IT won't bother me at all if JEFF BOURBON wins a champ. this year and Mark MARTINI, ONE NEXT YEAR. Works for me.....

10-13-2008 @ 7:09AM

Yes, Anna, no matter how you count it, Jeff Gordon is not getting the job done this year. I would like to see him at least get a win though. The 24 team does seem to finally be getting a handle on settiing up the car and JG seems to be handling the car a little better but he still needs to be able to drive it to the front and not count on great pit stops to get there.
MBL

10-13-2008 @ 9:49AM

Kim said...

Congratulations to Jeff Burton! He is a nice guy and like they say, if you're number one driver doesn't win, he's the guy people tend to root for. That being said, I find it very interesting that he is sitting number 2 in the points now. How is that possible? Biffle had two wins at the beginning of the chase. Granted he had a bad race at Dega last weekend, but don't two wins in the chase trump one? I will never get this format.

Mike, thanks for posting how the points standings would be had they not changed the format. Seems much more fair the way you have it then the way it is now. At least my number one driver, would be at the top either way. :-) Stop the hate, embrace the 48!!!!!! :-) Three Sprint Cup Championships in a row......tie Cale Yarborough. You go, Jimmie! Anyone who doesn't think this possibility is just cool, must just hate winners & record setters!

Kim

10-14-2008 @ 12:17AM

Don Emerson said...

Jeff Gordon admitted that the new points system had cost him at least one championship, and he was right. Like him or not he has class and is a real driver.The chase format sucks and always will under its present form. What other sport devotes almost a third of its season to a playoff.And yes Kim, your boring robot driver will more than likely luck into another championship. Big deal, he has the best ride in Nascar. He has really made an impact in the truck series ( yawn ), and what did he win in the old Busch series.....hmm 2 races I think. Yeah, I have to agree....Johnson is a real weiner and thanks to Nascar will own a few records when he hangs it up. he still doesn't cut it in my book. Works for me......

10-15-2008 @ 7:47AM

Ah, Don.....

Now you have upset me....First, I don't get the Jimmie is a "robot" driver comment. Just because the guy is consistent and good at what he does and remains calm and cool under pressure, doesn't mean he is a robot. And yes, he has some of the best equipment in NASCAR, but so does Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Edwards, Kenseth, Biffle, and Casey Mears. Some of these drivers are doing well this year, some are not. What is your answer to why that is? I will go out on a limb and say that Jimmie has the best crew chief in all of NASCAR! I firmly believe that. And yes, I know he has cheated a couple of times, but so have they all.....they just all haven't gotten caught, period!

Once again, whether a fan of Jimmie or not, I don't understand how anyone can think that it wouldn't be amazing to see him tie a record with Cale Yarborough. Talk about making history. Records weren't meant to stand, they were meant to be broken. And I say, good for Jimmie and good luck to he and his team.

My Dad died ten years ago (he was 72). He was a huge fan of Cale Yarborough and some other drivers of yester year that I frankly can't remember. But his favorite, Cale. I was never into the sport until my Dad died. Watching it now and being a huge fan, makes me feel closer to him now that he is gone. I can't think of anything cooler than my favorite driver tying the record of his. Call me sappy or silly, but that's what I would like to see.

Kim

10-15-2008 @ 12:57PM

Maybe it's the fact that Jimmie does not lose his temper, like so many other Nascar drivers do, that enables him to focus more clearly and be a better driver than just about ANY other driver. Throwing out the Chase, which I cannot stand, Jimmie is still number 1 in points this time. Add to that the fact that he started the chase in 3rd and has worked his way to the top and what do you get? Whether you want to count the whole year or just the Chase races JJ is the best THIS year.
I cannot say Chad is necessarily the best crew chief but the relationship these two have is the best and that is what it takes. A good driver and a good crew chief that can communicate to get the job done.
MBL

10-22-2008 @ 1:12PM

Dan McNamee said...

I always enjoy watching Jeff Burton race. It doesn't matter where he starts he usually finishes well. He races clean and takes care of his equipment. But most of all, he respects his fellow drivers and they respect him. That's why I'm jumping on his bandwagon and cheering him on. All the best Jeff, you're doing great.