Burton’s day started him 8^th. Burton kept himself in the top 10 for the day’s event but not in the lead until the closing laps of the race. With 2 to go, Kevin Harvick who was battling with Tony Stewart for 2^nd gets into his car, causing Stewart to spin out in turn two. 

This set up a green-white-checkered finish for leader Denny Hamlin and 2^nd place Jeff Burton who dodged the accident to see who would win.  

On the restart, Hamlin got a good start, but in turns one and two, Hamlin seemed to loose power to his car (we found out later that Hamlin said they lost the pickup for gas into the engine), which allowed Burton to rocket by Hamlin. 

With one to go, Burton did not have a threat from Harvick who was able to keep his car going from the earlier incident with Stewart. Harvick took home second place. 

Burton’s day did not seem to have him falling off pace, but his car would not bring him the lead until those last laps. 

Harvick’s day did have him in the lead for 32 laps. His car looked to have the power to remain in the top ten and almost the win for the day. Harvick did have some challenges during the race for the lead, but did not drop out of the top ten himself. 

Clint Bowyer took home third place, giving Richard Childress Racing a 1-2-3 finish. Bowyer’s car looked to be a contender, but as other cars were getting stronger, Bowyer’s did not fall off, but did not get into the top five until the shootout at the end. Bowyer’s day was a good one leading 81 of the 506 laps ran today. 

PRE RACE NOTES 

“We've been fortunate with everything this year to run as well as we've run,” Busch said, “and to be as fast as we've been at the places we've been so far. So we can only hope that it continues to be that way. We have a long year ahead of us and look forward to going to the race track.” 

In his fourth season and first at Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings by 73 points over second-place Greg Biffle (No. 16 Jackson-Hewitt Ford). Back-to-back NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins (at Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta) have him atop those standings, and he’s third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. 

Last week at Atlanta, Busch became the first driver to score a NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series weekend sweep. 

A 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series victory will make him the first to win at least one race in all three NASCAR national series in four consecutive seasons. 

Sunday’s start will be his 44th at Bristol, his highest total at any track and 668th overall. He has one win and 19 top-10 finishes at Bristol. Also a total of 32 series wins (among them, three Daytona 500 crowns). 

The son of two-time series champion and respected broadcaster Ned Jarrett, Dale will follow his father into the booth later this season, serving as an analyst for ESPN/ABC. And he does have one more race — the non-points NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May — before completely hanging up his helmet.  

“It's been a terrific career,” Jarrett said. “Certainly I'm very appreciative of the opportunities that I was given by a number of car owners; the opportunity that NASCAR has provided for all of us.” 

Michael Waltrip Racing teammate David Reutimann (No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota) will succeed him in the No. 44, while youngster Michael McDowell takes over the No. 00 for Reutimann. 

Safety, competition and cost-containment enhancements all are crucial aspects of the car. 

“A year ago when we first took the new car to Bristol, there was speculation amongst some that the splitter would fall off and the wing wouldn’t hold up,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition. “We quickly saw that wasn’t the case at all. I think everyone has learned a lot in a short period of time. 

“People need to remember that this is just the second year of what was originally going to be a three-year rollout phase for the car, so we’ve just raced it 20 times going into this weekend. Along the way we’ve learned some things as they relate to pre-race and post-race tolerances, as we didn’t have any race data to fall back on and neither did the teams. 

“I want to compliment the teams on the job they’ve done in working on the new car; they’ve played a big role throughout this process. It will be fun getting back to Bristol this weekend.” 

QUALIFYING NOTES 

Another rainout sets the field by last year’s owner’s points. This will be the last year using last year’s points. Any future races will be by this year’s points. 

NOW ONTO THE RACE!! 

Well race fans, gets ready for rock ‘em sock ‘um robots. Or should we say bump, bang, biff your way to the front. We will see a competition caution as most of the weekend was rained out. Lap 50 should be it. 

Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon will lead the 43 gladiators in this coliseum to a battle to the win. The engines fire to life and the cars are on the track. A few laps on the track and out of turn four… 

GREEN FLAG for the drivers. At the end of lap 1 score Johnson 5 points. Matt Kenseth to the high side of Clint Bowyer for 3^rd. Tony Stewart not good on the start dropped back 3 positions from 6^th to 9^th. 

Lap 6 Kenseth and Bowyer still battle side by side. Lap 7 they settle down, Bowyer takes 3^rd. Kyle “Rowdy” Busch looking to take 19^th from Reed Sorenson. Lap 12 we see that the leader enters turn three as the last driver of Dave Blaney is in the middle of four. 

Lap 15 Bowyer takes the lead. Lap 16 Casey Mears puts on the pressure on Kenseth for 4^th with Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick on their bumpers. Lap 25 your top 10 drivers are – Bowyer, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mears, Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Harvick, Burton, Kenseth and Sam Hornish Jr. 

Lap 30 we see that 4 drivers are a lap down. Kyle Petty, Dave Blaney, Jeremy Mayfield and Joe Nemechek were the first ones to go down. Mike Skinner, Dale Jarrett, Travis Kvapil, Ken Schrader, Ryan Newman and David Gilliland will be the next ones in line. 

Lap 38 Kyle Busch connects with Petty’s right rear bumper, but both keep going. 10 more laps until the competition caution. Lap 44 early movers of the race are Juan Pablo Montoya from 21^st up to 13^th, Kyle Busch from 22^nd up to 11^th. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 50 for the competition caution. Your top 20 drivers are – Bowyer, Johnson, Stewart, Harvick, Burton, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard, Aric Armirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Regan Smith. Travis Kvapil is the lucky dog. 

The race back to the track is Bowyer, Johnson, Stewart, Harvick and Mears. 

GREEN FLAG lap 57 with 37 lead lap and 6 lap down drivers on the inside line. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 59 as Robby Gordon solo spins in turn 4. Nemechek is the lucky dog. Robby Gordon seems to be disputing where he should be on the track. NASCAR puts his number on the sign that tells the driver and team they are going to be black flagged. 

A replay shows that Gordon may have come down on Schrader then spun out. 

GREEN FLAG lap 68 with Bowyer and Johnson pulling the field around turns one and two. Lap 75 your top 5 are – Bowyer, Johnson, Stewart, Harvick and Mears. Lap 76 Stewart takes second from Johnson. 

Lap 78 challenge for 6^th as Hamlin takes it from Mears after Burton took 5^th from him. Lap 80 Harvick takes 3^rd from Johnson. Kyle Busch is up to 7^th putting Mears back one more position. Lap 84 Biffle takes 8^th from Mears. 

Lap 89 Bowyer is caught up in traffic which allows Stewart to close in for the challenge. Lap 93 Bowyer is stuck trying to catch a break, and he gets one. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 94 for debris. David Gilliland should be the lucky dog. The leaders hit pit road. The first five out of the track are Stewart, Johnson, Harvick, Hamlin and Bowyer. Bowyer was stuck behind many cars pulling out of their stalls. 

GREEN FLAG lap 99 led by Michael Waltrip who did not pit to get 5 bonus points. Lap 100 Stewart takes it over. Your top 20 drivers are – Waltrip, Stewart, Johnson, Harvick, Hamlin, Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Burton, Mears, Biffle, Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kenseth, Montoya, Armirola, Edwards, Menard, Sorenson, Scott Riggs and Ryan Newman. So far we have seen 3 cautions for 20 laps and 6 lead changes among 4 leaders. 

Lap 116 Kyle Busch battles with Bowyer for 5^th, but the outside line is not working as Busch slips back 7^th after Burton passes him. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 120 as Dave Blaney spins out on the back. Travis Kvapil is the lucky dog. Most of the leaders stay out. 

GREEN FLAG lap 125 as Stewart and Johnson get the show going again. 34 drivers remain on the lead lap. Lap 130 Bowyer trying to clear lapped drivers, bounces a bit against Robby Gordon. Lap 134 Burton has the same issue trying to pass Robby Gordon as he runs 6^th. 

Lap 137 Stewart with almost a 1 second lead over Johnson. Stewart will have a few laps of freedom until he catches the back of the pack. David Reutimann and David Ragan bang each other. Ragan is slideways with a big save on the lowside of the track. 

Lap 145 Stewart closes in on the rear of the field as he currently has a 1.4 seconds lead. Lap 147 Stewart is in the traffic and he is loosing the lead he had. Lap 149 his lead shrinks down to a half second. 

Lap 150 your top 20 drivers are – Stewart, Johnson, Hamlin, Harvick, Bowyer, Burton, Biffle, Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Mears, Waltrip, Schrader, Almirola, Menard, Truex Jr., Montoya and J.J. Yeley. 

Lap 161 we hear that Waltrip may have a loose wheel and may come into pit to fix it. Lap 163 27 drivers remain on the lead lap. Drivers a lap down are – Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Kvapil, Riggs, Regan Smith, Ragan, Hornish Jr., Jamie McMurray, Brian Vickers, Dario Franchitti, Robby Gordon and Mike Skinner. 

Lap 171 Dale Jarrett is in the pits as he may have a flat tire. Lap 173 Hamlin takes 2^nd from Johnson. Lap 175 Mayfield is 2 laps down along with Nemechek and Petty. Jarrett is 4 laps down, Blaney 5 laps down. 

Lap 180 Truex Jr. and Reutimann are a lap down. Sorenson, Yeley and Earnhardt Jr. would be the next three to go a lap down. 

Lap 186 Stewart is getting some breaks in the field to have about 5 or 6 lap down drivers between them. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 190 as several drivers get into each other. Franchitti is into McMurray who gets into Schrader. They collect Menard, Newman, Almirola and Bobby Labonte. The first five out of pit road is Stewart, Hamlin, Johnson, Bowyer and Burton. 

GREEN FLAG lap 197 with Stewart and his teammate Hamlin leading the field back to racing. Lap 198 Hamlin takes over the lead. Lap 200 the top 20 drivers are – Hamlin, Johnson, Bowyer, Stewart, Burton, Harvick, Biffle, Edwards, Yeley, Jeff Gordon, Kenseth, Montoya, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Waltrip, Earnhardt Jr., Sorenson, Gilliland, Yeley and Mears. So far we have seen 5 cautions for 32 laps and 9 lead changes among 5 leaders. 

Lap 207 Bowyer challenges Johnson for 2^nd place. Stewart waits for the right moment to get by. Lap 209 Stewart almost hits the back of Bowyer. Lap 211 Menard has to come into pit road as his rear bumper is about to fly off. The team pulls it away from the car, and he is back on track 3 laps down. 

Lap 218 Newman has the same issue as Menard with the rear bumper coming off. He will be on pit road to get that taped up as he will go 4 laps down. 

Lap 225 Hamlin leads by almost a second over Bowyer and Stewart. Lap 233 Stewart weaves his way through traffic to pass Bowyer and a few lappers to move back into 2^nd place. 

Lap 237 Sorenson is on pit road. We have 18 drivers on the lead lap. Lap 240 Earnhardt Jr. has to contend with two DEI cars of Almirola in front of him and Truex Jr. behind him as he runs 13^th. 

Lap 250 your top 20 drivers are – Hamlin, Stewart, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Burton, Johnson, Edwards, Biffle, Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Almirola, Montoya, Gilliland and Mears on the lead lap followed by Yeley, Waltrip and Reutimann who are a lap down. 

Lap 261 Hamlin leads Stewart and Harvick by 1 second. Lap 265 Harvick takes second from Stewart. Lap 267 we almost have another issue as Franchitti is the meat in the sandwich as Bowyer and Johnson are on the outside of him. 

Lap 270 we are down to 16 drivers on the lead lap. The big movers since the start of the race are – Waltrip from 40^th up to 21^st, Gilliland from 32^nd up to 15^th, Kurt Busch from 36^th up to 10^th, Kyle Busch from 22^nd up to 4^th and Hamlin from 12^th to the lead. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 278 as Franchitti spins in turn three after getting help from behind by Menard. It looked like Franchitti may have had a tire going down. When the yellow came out Hamlin had to duck to the right of Montoya and clips the front of Mears’ car into the outside wall. 

The race out of pit road is Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Burton and Harvick. It was a photo finish at the line but Hamlin gets it. Hamlin has to come back in to get the damage fixed on his car and he will slide back to 15^th. Montoya is the lucky dog. 

GREEN FLAG lap 287 as Kyle Busch and Stewart lead the drivers racing into turns one and two.  

YELLOW FLAG lap 290 as Kyle Busch solo spins in turns one and two, out to the outside wall then clips the back end of his car into the inside wall. At the same time Mike Skinner’s rear end has caught fire. He drives on the track to the corner and the fire rig comes over to put it out. Kahne is the lucky dog. 

Lap 300 you top 20 drivers are – Stewart, Burton, Harvick, Johnson, Bowyer, Edwards, Biffle, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, Almirola, Gilliland, Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Montoya and Kahne with Yeley, Truex Jr., Riggs and Kyle Busch a lap down. So far we have seen 7 cautions for 51 laps and 11 lead changes among 6 drivers. 

GREEN FLAG lap 304 as Stewart and Burton lead our drivers back up to speed. Stewart gets a warning about making sure he performs a proper restart. Lap 310 Harvick and Burton are all over Stewart for the lead.  

Lap 317 Earnhardt Jr. has been fighting with his car’s setup most of the race. He looks to challenge Kenseth for 9^th but has to hold back as the car still does not want to respond. 

Lap 326 Earnhardt Jr. takes 9^th from Kenseth. We have also seen Kurt Busch move up to 8^th from starting the race 36^th and Gilliland running 13^th from his start of 32^nd. Lap 342 16 drivers remain on the lead lap. Lap 343 Kyle Busch is trying to get one of his laps back and slowing Stewart down. This allows Harvick to close in. 

Lap 346 Harvick takes the lead. Johnson takes over 3^rd from Burton. Lap 350 your top 20 drivers are – Stewart, Harvick, Johnson, Burton, Bowyer, Biffle, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Kenseth, Almirola, Gilliland, Jeff Gordon, Montoya and Kahne on the lead lap followed by Truex Jr., Yeley, Riggs, Kyle Busch and Sadler. 

Lap 355 Jarrett and Johnson bang into each other. Jarrett almost gets into the outside wall, saves it and keeps going. Lap 374 most of the field has settled in. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 375 as Johnson spins out in turn two after Burton is clipped by Robby Gordon who then hits Johnson. Truex Jr. is the lucky dog. The leaders hit pit road. Stewart, Harvick, Burton, Johnson and Biffle. Johnson did not loose too many positions on the spin. 

GREEN FLAG lap 381 with Stewart and Harvick leading the two rows of drivers back to speed. Lap 386 Earnhardt battles with Kenseth once again for 9^th. Lap 388 Bowyer takes 5^th from Biffle and Harvick takes the lead from Stewart. Hornish Jr. almost is all the way around but saves it to keep the yellow from coming out. Lap 397 Hamlin takes over 7^th from Edwards. 

Lap 400 (100 to go) your top 20 drivers are – Harvick, Stewart, Burton, Bowyer, Johnson, Biffle, Hamlin, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Gilliland, Kahne, Montoya and Truex Jr. on the lead lap with Yeley, Vickers and Kyle Busch down a lap or more. So far we have seen 8 cautions for 58 laps and 14 lead changes among 7 leaders.  

Lap 415 Stewart takes the lead once again. Hamlin takes over 5^th from Johnson. Truex Jr. is back a lap down. Lap 421 Hamlin takes over 4^th from Bowyer. 75 to go the distance from leader Stewart back to 10^th place Kenseth is 7.5 seconds which is almost a half lap down. 

Lap 433 Stewart leads Harvick by 1 second, but as he keeps getting stuck in traffic, Harvick reels him back in. Stewart is 2 seconds in front of 3^rd place Burton. Lap 437 Earnhardt Jr. took over 7^th from Biffle and now takes over 6^th from Johnson. 

Lap 439 Truex Jr. and Montoya are back on the lead lap. Lap 444 we still have all 43 drivers on the lead lap. Lap 445 Montoya is back a lap down and the only one a lap down. We have 8 drivers 2 laps down, 3 drivers 3 laps down, and the rest 5 or more laps down. 

Lap 450 (50 to go) the top 20 drivers are – Stewart, Harvick, Hamlin, Burton, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Johnson, Edwards, Kenseth, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kahne, Gilliland and Truex Jr. on the lead lap followed by Montoya, Kyle Busch, Yeley and Sadler one or more laps down. 

40 to go Stewart leads by almost a half second with a lot of traffic in front of him. Lap 463 Earnhardt Jr. takes 5^th from Bowyer looking to take 4^th from Burton. Lap 466 Earnhardt takes it. Lap 467 Newman blows a tire, just about clipping Stewart in the turn. 

30 to go Stewart having to contend with lap down drivers again which has Harvick and Hamlin on his tail. Lap 472 Stewart clears a few lapped drivers gets a few seconds of relief and will go through the same issues again. 

25 to go Stewart and Harvick keep going at it, Hamlin closes in. Earnhardt Jr. running 4^th, 5.6 seconds behind.  

20 to go Stewart holds the lead while Biffle challenges Bowyer for 6^th place.  

15 to go Harvick on Stewart’s bumper wanting the lead. We still have all 43 drivers on the track. 

13 to go Harvick with a friendly tap from behind. 

YELLOW FLAG with 11 to go as Vickers blows a tire and hits the outside turn one wall. Stewart, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr. stay out, the rest come in. This is going to be interesting. 

GREEN FLAG with 5 to go and a single file restart. Stewart, Hamlin and Earnhardt Jr. 

4 to go as Harvick is on the inside of Jr. Hamlin takes the lead. 

3 to go Harvick takes 2^nd on the inside of Stewart. 

2 to go Harvick on the inside of Stewart as they go through turns one and two. Harvick comes up and tags Stewart in the driver’s door. Stewart spins backwards into the outside wall. 

YELLOW FLAG as Hamlin is the leader with Burton, Harvick, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr. are your top five. This will be a GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED finish. 

GREEN FLAG lap 504 Hamlin with a good start but something happens to him in turns one and two, Burton gets by 

WHITE FLAG for Burton who holds off Harvick in the turns. Out of turn four… 

CHECKERED FLAG for Burton. Harvick takes 2^nd, Bowyer 3^rd, Biffle 4^th, Earnhardt Jr. 5^th, Hamlin 6^th, Kahne 7^th, Almirola 8^th, Gilliland 9^th and Kenseth 10^th. 

Today the race lasted for 3 hours. We saw 10 cautions for 68 laps and 17 lead changes among 8 leaders. 

Burton led the most important lap, which was the only one he had led in today’s race. Stewart led the most with 267 to wind up 14^th, Hamlin led 98, Bowyer 81, Harvick 32, Johnson 14 to finish 18^th. 

Jeff Burton won the Food City 500, his 20th victory in 480 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2008. This is his first victory and 12th top-10 finish in 29 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. 

Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 15 races at Bristol. Clint Bowyer (third) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Bristol. This is the first-ever 1-2-3 finish for Richard Childress Racing. Regan Smith (26th) was the highest finishing rookie.