Bristol, Tenn. – As Jeff Burton considered how to beat Kyle Busch in the closing laps Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, he couldn’t shake the lessons his mother taught him as a child.
“My mother always told me to do unto other people the way you want them to do you,” Burton said. “That’s the only thing I know to do. I’ve always tried to let the guy I am racing with set the rules. Kyle drives hard. He drives really hard. But he’s always raced me with respect.”
And with that, Burton refused to bump Busch out of the way Sunday, instead pulling alongside him before Busch beat him in a drag race to the finish line to win the Food City 500, the first Car of Tomorrow race.
The two have battled in the Busch Series this season, and had a stirring door-to-door duel in Las Vegas two weeks ago that Burton won as Busch spun backward across the finish line.
Burton credited Busch with racing clean that day. And both drivers had it fresh in their memories on the final 3 laps Sunday.
“Jeff Burton easily could have dumped me there in (turns) three and four, but I think our Vegas finish helped me out a little bit with that,” Busch said. “I think I had some brownie points to use up.”
After a final caution set up a three-lap overtime, Burton pulled alongside Busch as they closed in on the finish line, but Busch nipped him at the flag for his first Nextel Cup victory on a short track.
Polesitter Jeff Gordon finished third and was thrilled with the effort after struggling for most of the race.
“That’s an awesome win for him (Busch),” Gordon said. “I got a run on the inside and I knew Burton was going to get a run on the outside and I knew I was in trouble, so I just tried to hold onto third.”
Busch’s win was the third straight for Hendrick Motorsports – Jimmie Johnson won the past two Cup events – and was the 200th overall win for car owner Rick Hendrick. It also was the 600th for manufacturer Chevrolet, which introduced the Impala SS this weekend to coincide with NASCAR’s debut of the Car of Tomorrow.
The COT spent seven years in development as NASCAR tried to build a uniform car that would cut costs, improve safety and even the competition. It will be used in 16 races this season.
It’s introduction had teams fretting for months over performance and the many unknowns the COT created.
But when the race finally began, everything seemed pretty normal. Except for the design of the cars, which have a front splitter and a detachable rear wing, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
And the worst fears – that the track would be littered with parts and pieces every time one of them wrecked – never developed.
“From the tower, I thought it was a good race,” NASCAR competition director Robin Pemberton said.
