Burton Wins at Texas
Jeff Burton was able to just barely get past Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon in the final laps to win the Samsung 500 and become the only Nextel Cup Driver to win more than once at Texas Motor Speedway.
Bettors celebrated along with Burton who was listed at 15/1 odds to win at Sportsbook.com. Every $100 bet placed on Burton to win the Samsung 500 enjoyed a payout of $1500.
Bettors celebrated along with Burton who was listed at 15/1 odds to win at Sportsbook.com. Every $100 bet placed on Burton to win the Samsung 500 enjoyed a payout of $1500.
Sunday’s race was plagued with cautions and other bizarre incidents, several of which forced the strongest contenders from the race prematurely. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch all saw their strong runs affected by on track incidents. Juan Montoya and Tony Stewart made contact on lap 240 which sent Stewart into a spin which collected last weeks winner Jimmie Johnson. Upon returning to the track Stewart spun once again this time collecting Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was hit from behind by Kyle Busch.
With Earnhardt Jr. out of the way Kurt Busch assumed the lead and looked to be on his way to victory. That was until lap 292 when Busch had to come to pit road for an unscheduled pit stop. Jeff Gordon assumed the lead from Busch and was able to put several seconds on the second place car of Matt Kenseth. Unfortunately for Gordon on lap 312 he hit the wall which affected his cars handling and he was unable to maintain the lead.
From that point it was all Kenseth and Burton. Kenseth held Burton off by running on the high side making it difficult for the faster Burton to complete the pass. That looked like the way it would end until Kenseth got a little loose on the final lap which was just enough to allow Burton to make the pass and hold Kenseth off through the final turns.
In one of the stranger events on Sunday was Dale Earnhardt Jr. returning to the track after his #8 Chevrolet was retired from the race. While that in itself isn’t that odd, what is odd is that Earnhardt Jr. was driving Kyle Busch’s #5 Chevrolet. Apparently Kyle Busch thought his car was unable to be repaired and left the track. In need of a driver for the crippled car, Hendrick Motorsports called on Earnhardt Jr. to pilot the #5 machine who was still in the garage area.
Next week the Nextel Cup Series heads farther west to Phoenix International Raceway for the Subway Fresh Fit 500. Last years winner was Kevin Harvick. This will be the first night race of the Nextel Cup Season and will be shown on Fox at 8pm on April 21st.
by Michael Cash – thespread.com – Email Us
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