Jeff Burton (29) crosses the finish line Saturday to win the NASCAR Busch Series Sam's Town 300 as runner-up and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch spins out behind him at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo by Samantha Clemens.
Jeff Burton celebrates with his team in Victory Lane on Saturday after edging Kyle Busch for the victory in the NASCAR Busch Series Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was Burton's third Busch Series win in Las Vegas and his fifth overall victory at the speedway. Photo by John Locher.
Kyle Busch wanted so badly to finally win in his hometown, he was willing to jeopardize a car he didn't want to lose.
Instead, he lost the car and the race.
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Despite leading for a race-best 81 laps during the Sam's Town 300, Busch could not block off Jeff Burton, who was bumped but still managed to win the Busch Series race by .101 seconds Saturday and continue his domination at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"I blocked the bottom of the last lap getting into (Turn) 3, and I started drifting up the hill (banking) to block him," said Busch, who was third in the track's Nextel Cup Series race last year and second in 2005. "But I couldn't do it quick enough, and I left him too much room.
"I ended up wrecking a perfectly good race car, and that was stupid on my part."
Wrecking was the theme of the day in the race, with a track-record 12 cautions slowing traffic for 58 laps before an announced crowd of 110,000.
Drivers had difficulty adjusting to the faster new course, and they weren't hesitant to blame the repaved and higher-banked track and the hard Goodyear tires that were mandated as an adjustment to the new conditions.
Burton didn't exactly come to the defense of the track or the tire manufacturer, but said there had been an overreaction.
"I like it when it's like this," Burton said. "I'm hoping it's 90 degrees (today). To me, that's when the team and driver working together can accomplish something that you can really take a lot of pride in. When conditions are bad and things aren't going well, that's when it is fun."
Of course, nothing in sports is more fun than winning, and Burton has done plenty of that in Las Vegas.
Burton has raced so well at the speedway, it's almost as if he's the one who grew up here and not Busch. The victory was Burton's third Busch Series win in Las Vegas, joining those in 2000 and 2002, and, with his 1999 and 2000 Cup victories, his fifth overall at the track.
And even though Busch's No. 5 Chevrolet dominated the middle portion of the race, Burton's No. 29 Chevy clearly was the strongest at the end.
Burton took the lead on lap 189 before a red flag stopping the race came out two laps later. He quickly formulated a plan for the rest of the race while waiting that went to ruin once the race restarted, and Busch went back in front on lap 194.
"For whatever reason, our car liked hot tires; it ran its best on hot tires," Burton said. "(Busch) got away from me and we were really loose at that point and about got spun out a couple of times. Just kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. By the last two laps, we started making up a lot of ground."
Burton said he knew he had to go to the outside on the final lap, and Busch did his best to keep him from getting there. But this was Burton's chance to win, and he knew it.
Busch bumped him twice down the final stretch, but Burton made it through to claim the victory he relished.
"With a minute to go and it's a tie ballgame, do you want the ball or not?" Burton asked. "Give me the damn ball."
SAM'S TOWN 300 RESULTS
At Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (6) Jeff Burton. Chevrolet. 200 laps. 104.53 mph.. $98,250.
Leaders Summary (Driver. Times Lead. Laps Led): Ky.Busch. 6 times for 81 laps; Ku.Busch. 3 times for 42 laps; J.Burton. 5 times for 37 laps; K.Harvick. 2 times for 19 laps; J.Yeley. 1 time for 6 laps; C.Edwards. 1 time for 5 laps; T.Stewart. 1 time for 4 laps; R.Smith 1 time for 2 laps; B.Sherman. 1 time for 1 lap; M.Ambrose. 1 time for 1 lap; M.Wallace. 1 time for 1 lap; K.Kahne. 1 time for 1 lap.
