There are not many car owners in
NASCAR that are as thought of around the sport like Richard Childress.
He's had his share of great success in the sport. Sunday was another big day
for him. Led by race winner Jeff Burton, his three cars took the top spots in
Sunday's
Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. It was the first time
that has happened for Childress Racing.
Kevin Harvick finished second with
Clint Bowyer third. Burton led only two laps of the race. But they
were the most important laps of the race.
As there usually is, cautions were a factor at
Bristol. The race was slowed ten times for 68 laps. Late cautions
would be a major factor in the result. It looked like it would be a battle
between
Tony Stewart and Harvick. But with 11 laps to go,
Brian Vickers brought out a caution when he hit the wall. Stewart and
Denny Hamlin stayed out while others made pit stops. The race restarted with
five laps to go. A lap later, Hamlin passed Stewart. Then, when trying to
pass Stewart,
Kevin Harvick made contact, spinning out the
Home Depot Toyota, then ending up in the wall. The incident ended a
great run for
Tony Stewart, who led a race high 267 laps. But after the incident, he
finished 14th.
After the Stewart-Harvick incident, a
green-white-checker finish was in store. Denny Hamlin was the leader, but he
had problems on the restart, allowing Jeff Burton to pass him with ease. For
Burton, it was his first win at
Bristol in his career and ended a victory drought dating back to last
year's Spring race at
Texas.
Following the Childress trio,
Greg Biffle finished fourth with
Dale Earnhardt Jr. fifth, Hamlin sixth and
Kasey Kahne seventh. One of the best runs of the day was recorded by
youngster Aric Almirola, who finished a career best eighth. The top ten was
rounded out by David Gilliland and
Matt Kenseth. Points leader Kyle Busch looked like a driver to beat
until he lost power steering and spun shortly after taking the lead in the
race's middle stages. He wound up 17th, two laps down.
Sunday also marked the final points race in the
career of
Dale Jarrett. He was honored by the drivers and the fans before the
race. His father
Ned Jarrett waved the green flag to start the race. Dale finished the
day in 37th.
Next weekend, the Nationwide Series will be in the
spotlight as they run Saturday at the Nashville Superspeedway. The Sprint Cup
Series will take next weekend off for
Easter. All three NASCAR series will be back in action the following
weekend at
Martinsville, Virginia.
Final Laps of Food City 500
By: CrimsonCowboy.
Video courtesy and property of NASCAR.com