NASCAR's New Elder Statesman
By MONTE DUTTON,
AOL
Posted: 2008-03-17 13:07:47
Sports Commentary
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Contrary to popular belief, the hellbent driver doesn't always win at Bristol Motor Speedway.
John Harrelson, Getty Images for NASCAR
RCR Dominates
Food City 500
An opportunistic Jeff Burton finds himself in Victory Lane after a late push gives Team Childress the top three spots Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Sometimes the checkered flag falls on an opportunist. Such was the case in the Food City 500, where Jeff Burton, one of the Sprint Cup drivers often praised for so boring a personality trait as good sense, won the 20th race of his career.
Dale Jarrett, who competed for the final time in NASCAR point race, once won a race at Bristol. Matt Kenseth has collected two victories. Terry Labonte won twice. In a race that seemed inordinately calm until the end, Burton remained so while other drivers, caught up in the tension and overcome by hunger for victory, suddenly and inexplicably faltered or self-destructed.
Now that Jarrett has stepped aside - though he will compete in the Sprint All-Star Race in May - Burton is a logical successor as elder statesman. Like Jarrett and Mark Martin, Burton is thoughtful, articulate and highly respected by his peers. He became the first driver in his 40s to win since Jarrett and Martin won back-to-back races in the fall of 2005. Burton was 39 when he won at Texas on April 15, 2007.
The fifth race of the season was scheduled for 500 laps. Until the 499th, Burton looked as if he was going to finish fourth. That's when hard-charging Kevin Harvick, intent on passing Tony Stewart for second place, missed his mark in turn one. When his car skittered up the track, Harvick took out Stewart, who had dominated the day. The resulting caution flag put the race into NASCAR's version of overtime, extending the race to 506 laps.
That left two laps to decide the outcome. Denny Hamlin's Toyota wouldn't go (apparently a fuel-pickup problem) when the green flag waved, and Burton, who had already avoided the Harvick-Stewart wreck, calmly drove past. Harvick, whose car had continued on after taking out Stewart's, finished second, with Clint Bowyer third.
As a result, not only had Burton put Chevrolet in victory lane for the first time this season, but his team, Richard Childress Racing, had its first-ever 1-2-3 finish.
The end produced some head-scratching. What the ...?
Burton, whose words are frequently NASCAR's most eloquent, is more the plugger on-track. Moving to RCR revitalized his career. Burton once went four consecutive seasons (2002-05) without a victory. Since joining Childress's team about two thirds of the way through the 2004 season, Burton has improved the team more than his three victories might indicate. He gave the team a moderating influence it previously lacked.
"He's kind of the calm reason between me and Clint (Bowyer)," said Harvick. "I'm one extreme; he's another extreme. Clint's in the middle of the road. He kind of bounces off of both of us. I'm just glad that Jeff's a part of our team so we can all stay sane. It keeps us all straight."
** FILE ** In this July 11, 2008 file photo, Brad Keselowski drives during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar General 300 auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The 24-year-old Nationwide Series driver is second in the season standings heading into this weekend's race at St. Louis. Off the track, Keselowski is learning about the things he didn't really worry about while making his way through the ranks. (AP Photo/Tim Stewart, File)
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** FILE ** In this July 10, 2008 file photo, NASCAR driver Ryan Newman smiles as he looks at his crew member in his garage before the Sprint Cup Practice at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The Penske team announced Monday, July 14, 2008 that Newman, projected as a possible teammate for Tony Stewart on the two-time NASCAR champion's new team, will leave Penske Racing at the end of the 2008 season. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
AP
** FILE ** In this July 12, 2008 file photo, Ryan Newman (12), Jimmie Johnson (48) and Carl Edwards, right, drive during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The Penske team announced Monday, July 14, 2008 that Newman, projected as a possible teammate for Tony Stewart on the two-time NASCAR champion's new team, will leave Penske Racing at the end of the 2008 season. (AP Photo/Tim Stewart, File)
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JOLIET, IL - JULY 12: Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge drives during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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JOLIET, IL - JULY 12: A.J. Allmendinger, driver of the #84 Red Bull Toyota leads Elliott Sadler, driver of the #19 Best Buy Chevrolet during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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JOLIET, IL - JULY 12: Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli watches his drivers from the #2 Miller Lite Dodge pit during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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JOLIET, IL - JULY 12: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 USG Ford pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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JOLIET, IL - JULY 12: NASCAR legend Richard Petty receives an award celebrating his 50th anniversary in NASCAR during pre-race festivities prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Joe Gibbs M&Ms Toyota team members push their driver Kyle Busch out of the infield after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Life Lock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, July 12, 2008. REUTERS/Robert LeSieur (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
JOLIET, IL - JULY 12: Samantha Sarcinella and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&Ms Toyota prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Burton is a man of carefully selected words. He has the practiced air of a public figure, combined with the affable charm of a humorist. If this raucous community has a pillar, it is Burton.
In this particular instance, Burton could keep his head and his own car straight, if not Harvick's. That's why a race at NASCAR's most perilous track went to the driver who never lost his cool or stopped thinking.
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Stewart has utterly dominated two of the season's five races without managing to win any of them. Is he frustrated? Of course. He's Tony Stewart. Happiness is never farther away than victory lane.
After climbing out of his car angry, Harvick took the blame for taking out Stewart. "It's just one of those deals where I was just trying to get all I could and just got a little too far," he said. He also said, "If he doesn't like it, then we can fight," but Harvick wasn't talking about Stewart but rather Stewart's spotter, Mark Robertson, who had reportedly had an oral altercation with Billy O'Dea, Harvick's spotter.
It wouldn't have been surprising had Mark Martin been driving the No. 8 Chevrolet, but it was Aric Almirola finishing eighth in his seventh Cup start and first of the year. Almirola, who turned 24 on Friday, is Martin's designated replacement when the veteran takes the occasional week off.
Stewart and Goodyear made up at the end of a week in which the two-time champion continued his criticism of the tire supplier's choice of Atlanta compounds. After a meeting with Goodyear's Stu Grant, Stewart didn't take anything back but said he hadn't meant to offend the company's workers who are "not the ones making the decisions about the racing tires we use here at the track." Grant described the meeting as "constructive."
Because their teams are now outside the top 35 in owner points, Jamie McMurray, Dave Blaney, Dario Franchitti, Regan Smith and Kyle Petty no longer have an automatic spot in starting fields beginning with the next race in Martinsville.
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