Jeff Burton became the fifth Cup regular to win in the Busch Series this season. Credit: Autostock

Burton gets first Busch Series victory since 2002
By Mike Harris, The Associated Press
March 18, 2006
07:24 PM EST (00:24 GMT)

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jeff Burton passed Matt Kenseth with 20 laps remaining Saturday and raced away to his first NASCAR Busch Series victory in four years.


Jeff Burton hugs owner Richard Childress in Victory Lane. Credit: Autostock

Burton is a regular with Richard Childress Racing in the Nextel Cup Series and only a part-time performer in Busch. He beat runner-up Kasey Kahne, who won last week in Las Vegas, to the finish line by 1.42 seconds -- nearly half the final straightaway on the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval -- to take the Nicorette 300.

It was Burton's 21st Busch win but his first victory of any kind since he won at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., in October 2002 while driving for Roush Racing. The most recent of Burton's 17 Cup victories came at Phoenix in October 2001, also for Roush.

After getting a hug from former Roush teammate Kenseth in Victory Lane, Burton said, "He's still a very good friend and he felt bad for me the last few years. It's a pleasure to finally get something done.

"You question yourself. You question everything. But I'm proud of myself. I stayed focused through all of it," added Burton, who will race on the same track Sunday in the Golden Corral 500. "We're working really hard and trying really hard to get back to the top."

Blown right rear tires brought out three of the six caution flags in the race, with defending race winner Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman all seeing their cars torn up badly by the blowouts. A Goodyear spokesman said the problems were caused by a combination of wear and failure to have the cars balanced properly.

Kahne checked out his right rear tire when he got out of his Dodge.

"It's all torn up," he said. "I tried waiting for a while and let my tires stay cool for a little bit and let Jeff and Matt get out front and race. Then I caught [Jeff] and, by the time I got there, I wore my tires out."

Cup regulars have won all five Busch races this season.

The No. 21 RCR Chevrolet that Burton drove Saturday has finished in the top four in each of the Busch races this season with three different drivers. Rookie Burney Lamar ran second in it at Daytona, Burton was fourth at California and Kevin Harvick was third both in Mexico City and Las Vegas.

Lamar finished eighth in another Childress entry and Harvick was 11th in his own car on Saturday.

California winner Greg Biffle was third, followed by Kenseth, who fell out of contention after losing the lead, J.J. Yeley, who survived bouncing off the wall twice during the race, and Jason Leffler, the top finishing Busch regular.

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Unofficial Race Results
Nicorette 300
Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 18, 2006
Race 5 of 35

Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 8 #21 Jeff Burton Chevrolet U.S. Coast Guard 190/10 195 Running
2 17 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Hellmann's Mayonnaise 170/0 195 Running
3 15 #16 Greg Biffle Ford Ameriquest Mortgage 170/5 195 Running
4 4 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford Ameriquest Mortgage 165/5 195 Running
5 9 #18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Vigoro/The Home Depot 160/5 195 Running
6 21 #32 Jason Leffler Chevrolet ABF U-Pack Moving 150/0 195 Running
7 3 #157 Brian Vickers Chevrolet Ore-Ida 146/0 195 Running
8 10 #77 Burney Lamar* Chevrolet Dollar General 142/0 195 Running
9 12 #64 Jamie McMurray Dodge Top-Flite Golf 138/0 195 Running
10 14 #11 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards/Splash 134/0 195 Running
11 30 #33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Outdoor Channel 130/0 195 Running
12 23 #00 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Transportation 127/0 195 Running
13 33 #47 Jon Wood Ford Armor All 124/0 195 Running
14 11 #2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet ACDelco 126/5 195 Running
15 43 #88 Mark McFarland* Chevrolet U.S. Navy 118/0 195 Running
16 13 #42 Casey Mears Dodge Texaco/Havoline 120/5 195 Running
17 40 #25 Ashton Lewis Ford U.S. Marines 112/0 195 Running
18 16 #06 Todd Kluever* Ford 3M 109/0 195 Running
19 32 #22 Kenny Wallace Ford AutoZone 106/0 195 Running
20 22 #10 John Andretti* Ford Freedom Rds/Campng Wld/RVs.com 108/5 195 Running
21 6 #35 Regan Smith Ford McDonald's 100/0 194 Running
22 26 #99 Michael Waltrip Dodge Aaron's 97/0 194 Running
23 39 #1 Jason Keller Dodge Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 94/0 194 Running
24 7 #60 Carl Edwards Ford Henkel/Dial for Men 96/5 194 Running
25 31 #50 Danny O'Quinn Jr.* Ford Stonebridge Life Insurance 88/0 193 Running
26 19 #43 Aaron Fike Dodge Flagstar Bank/Smith Transportation 85/0 193 Running
27 38 #59 Stacy Compton Ford Kingsford/Bush's Beans 82/0 193 Running
28 27 #4 Mark Green Dodge GEICO/Brymak 84/5 193 Running
29 25 #01 Jay Sauter Chevrolet Western Union 76/0 193 Running
30 29 #90 Elliott Sadler Ford CitiFinancial 73/0 192 Running
31 41 #36 Tim Sauter Chevrolet Lester Building Systems 70/0 191 Running
32 36 #12 Joel Kauffman* Dodge Supercuts 67/0 191 Running
33 37 #38 Anthony Foyt* Dodge Great Clips 64/0 191 Running
34 24 #58 Kevin Conway Dodge Carver Racing 61/0 190 Running
35 34 #0 Kertus Davis Chevrolet RaceGirl/gunbroker.com 58/0 190 Running
36 35 #27 David Green Ford Kleenex/Cottonelle/Kroger 55/0 183 Out of Race
37 20 #66 Ken Schrader Ford Yard-Man 52/0 180 Running
38 5 #20 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet Rockwell Automation 49/0 178 Running
39 2 #139 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1 46/0 143 Out of Race
40 1 #5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Lowe's/Hitachi Power Tools 48/5 121 Out of Race
41 18 #14 Tracy Hines* Dodge Jani-King/PGA TOUR Superstore 40/0 99 Out of Race
42 28 #41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Discount Tire 37/0 74 Out of Race
43 42 #34 Scott Lynch Chevrolet Hunter's Hope Foundation 34/0 10 Out of Race

* Denotes Rookie

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2006 Unofficial Driver Standings
After: Nicorette 300
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 5 of 35

Rank +/- Driver Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 -- Kevin Harvick 772 Leader 5 0 0 3 4
2 +1 J.J. Yeley 755 -17 5 1 0 2 5
3 +1 Jamie McMurray 698 -74 5 0 0 1 4
4 +1 Clint Bowyer 664 -108 5 0 0 1 2
5 -3 Denny Hamlin 649 -123 5 0 1 1 3
6 +1 Jason Leffler 639 -133 5 0 0 0 2
7 -1 Carl Edwards 614 -158 5 1 0 2 3
8 +2 Burney Lamar* 606 -166 5 0 0 1 2
9 -1 Jon Wood 596 -176 5 0 0 1 1
10 +6 Greg Biffle 595 -177 4 0 1 3 3
11 +2 Johnny Sauter 577 -195 5 0 0 0 1
12 -- Ashton Lewis 568 -204 5 0 0 0 0
13 -4 Jason Keller 559 -213 5 0 0 0 0
14 +3 Paul Menard 558 -214 5 0 0 1 2
15 -1 Todd Kluever* 549 -223 5 0 0 0 1
16 -5 Reed Sorenson 494 -278 5 0 0 0 2
17 +1 Mark McFarland* 488 -284 5 0 0 0 0
18 -3 Kyle Busch 487 -285 5 1 0 0 1
19 +6 Matt Kenseth 470 -302 3 1 0 2 3
20 -1 Kenny Wallace 464 -308 5 0 0 0 0
21 -- Regan Smith 449 -323 5 0 0 0 0
22 -- Michael Waltrip 434 -338 5 0 0 0 0
23 +7 Jeff Burton 433 -339 3 0 1 2 2
24 +5 Kasey Kahne 424 -348 3 0 1 2 2
25 +1 John Andretti* 411 -361 5 0 0 0 0
26 -2 Tim Sauter 377 -395 5 0 0 0 0
27 +8 Brian Vickers 356 -416 3 0 0 0 2
28 -- Stacy Compton 353 -419 5 0 0 0 0
29 -9 Danny O'Quinn Jr.* 352 -420 4 0 0 0 0
30 -3 David Green 344 -428 5 0 0 0 0
31 -- Mark Green 322 -450 4 0 0 0 1
32 -9 Tony Stewart 312 -460 2 0 1 1 1
33 +1 Aaron Fike 296 -476 5 0 0 0 0
34 +3 Jay Sauter 268 -504 4 0 0 0 0
35 -2 Tracy Hines* 256 -516 4 0 0 0 0
36 +2 Joel Kauffman* 244 -528 4 0 0 0 0
37 -5 Anthony Foyt* 238 -534 4 0 0 0 0
38 +1 Ryan Newman 221 -551 2 0 0 1 1
39 +2 Ken Schrader 219 -553 3 0 0 0 0
40 +2 Elliott Sadler 219 -553 3 0 0 0 0
41 -5 Paul Tracy 198 -574 3 0 0 0 0
42 -2 Boris Said 175 -597 1 1 0 1 1
43 +24 Casey Mears 163 -609 2 0 0 0 0
44 -1 Marc Goossens 143 -629 1 0 0 0 1
45 -1 Donnie Neuenberger 140 -632 2 0 0 0 0
46 +8 Kevin Conway 140 -632 2 0 0 0 0
47 -2 Carlos Contreras 135 -637 1 0 0 0 0
48 -2 Adrian Fernandez 127 -645 1 0 0 0 0
49 -2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 122 -650 1 0 0 0 0
50 -2 Scott Wimmer 121 -651 1 0 0 0 0
51 -2 Jorge Goeters 121 -651 1 0 0 0 0
52 -2 Stephen Leicht 109 -663 1 0 0 0 0
53 -2 Steve Grissom 105 -667 1 0 0 0 0
54 -2 Chris Cook 103 -669 1 0 0 0 0
55 +13 Kertus Davis 100 -672 2 0 0 0 0
56 -3 Kevin Lepage 94 -678 1 0 0 0 0
57 -2 David Reutimann 76 -696 1 0 0 0 0
58 -2 Rogelio Lopez 76 -696 1 0 0 0 0
59 -2 Steve Park 73 -699 1 0 0 0 0
60 -2 Patrick Goeters 70 -702 1 0 0 0 0
61 -2 Ron Fellows 64 -708 1 0 0 0 0
62 -2 Jeremy Mayfield 63 -709 1 0 0 0 0
63 -2 Spencer Clark 58 -714 1 0 0 0 0
64 -2 Michel Jourdain Jr. 54 -718 1 0 0 0 0
65 -2 Todd Bodine 52 -720 1 0 0 0 0
66 -1 David Gilliland 46 -726 1 0 0 0 0
67 -3 Jimmy Morales 46 -726 1 0 0 0 0
68 -2 Joe Nemechek 43 -729 1 0 0 0 0
69 +1 Randy LaJoie 40 -732 1 0 0 0 0
70 -1 Steadman Marlin 40 -732 1 0 0 0 0
71 -- Carlos Pardo 37 -735 1 0 0 0 0
72 -- Scott Lynch 34 -738 1 0 0 0 0

* Denotes Rookie