| | Associated Press
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Even though it was obvious Jeff Burton
had the best car, it took a gritty comeback and Ricky Rudd's
misfortune to give him the victory Sunday.
Rudd, who hasn't won a race in just over two years, found
himself on top after Burton's jack broke during the leaders' pits
stops on lap 250 of the 312-lap Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500 at
Phoenix International Speedway.
|  | | Jeff Burton took the checkered flag at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday for his fourth win of the year, thanks in part to Ricky Rudd's misfortune. |
Burton's Jack Roush Racing Ford was seventh on the restart on
lap 253. But he quickly moved back into contention, picking off the
cars ahead of him and moving into second place on lap 292, still
trailing Rudd's Ford by 1.3 seconds.
As the gap between the leaders continued to close two laps
later, Mike Bliss slammed into the rear of Rick Mast, who had
slowed with a flat tire. Bliss's car glanced off and Rudd, trying
to pass on the low side of the track, hit it broadside.
As Rudd slowly drove to the pits for repairs of his battered
car, Burton took the lead. But he again fell behind moments later
when most of the leaders pitted and he came off pit road third,
behind Roush teammate Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace.
Martin, who was 15th and never in contention before the pit
stops, took his first lead of the day by staying on the track while
the rest of the leaders took two fresh tires.
The green flag waved with 11 laps to go, and it took Burton four
laps to get around Wallace. He then overtook 1993 Phoenix winner
Martin and made a strong outside pass for the lead on lap 308.
It was no contest the rest of the way as Martin faded back into
the pack and Jeremy Mayfield came on to finish second,
0.854-seconds -- about 10 car-lengths -- behind the winner. Burton
led six times for 105 laps, several times building margins of more
than three seconds before caution flags and pit stops pulled him
back to the field.
Mayfield also had a big problem in the race when he fell a lap
down after running out of gas as he slowed for a green-flag stop on
lap 128. He regained the lead lap when Rich Bickle's cut tire
brought out the third of six cautions in the race on lap 147, then
steadily moved back into contention.
"I feel like the best cars all day came back and finished first
and second," Burton said.
But the winner wasn't too sure of his chances after Rudd took
the lead.
"I feel bad for Ricky Rudd," Burton said. "It looked like he
was in pretty good shape. We were going to catch him, but I'm not
saying we would have passed him. That would have been tough."
Roush, who also watched Burton win the Busch Series race on the
one-mile oval on Saturday, said, "Jeff Burton is the man on these
flat tracks. He had his ups and downs all day and came out on top.
It was a great job by him and a great team effort."
Rudd, whose last victory came in Martinsville, Va., in September
1998, said, "It's kind of been like that all year. It seems like
every time we have a win shaping up, something happens. We should
have won three or four, maybe even five this year.
"It just seems like other people's circumstances dictate our
finishes too much, but there's not a whole lot you can do about
it," added the driver who sold his own team to drive for Robert
Yates this season.
Burton picked up his fourth win of the season and the 15th of
his career. He became the 12th different winner in 13 Cup races at
PIR, as well as the ninth different winner here in a row.
Steve Park finished third, followed by Wallace and series leader
Bobby Labonte, who started ninth and was never out of the top 10
all day.
Combined with runner-up Dale Earnhardt's ninth-place finish,
Labonte -- who came into the race with a 201-point lead -- now leads
Earnhardt by 218 and Burton by 226 with two races remaining in his
bid for his first Winston Cup title.
"We're just real excited to finish in the top five," Labonte
said with a wide grin. "There wasn't a scratch on the car, so we
can just load it in the truck and take it to Homestead for next
week's race."
Earnhardt, seeing his chances of a record eighth championship
fading away, said, "We had some good shots at running good -
Dover, Charlotte, Rockingham -- and we just fall through. You can't
win a championship like that."
| |
ALSO SEE
Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500K results
Notebook: Snakebit Rudd can't find Victory Circle
AUDIO/VIDEO
 ESPN's Whit Watson talks with the man who dominated Phoenix this weekend, Jeff Burton.
RealVideo: 28.8
ESPN's Whit Watson is joined by Bobby Labonte as he closes in on the points title.
RealVideo: 28.8
 After running out of gas, Jeremy Mayfield and his crew had to battle back to finish second.
wav: 126 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Steve Park took a chance with his tire setup and his car responded well.
wav: 203 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Another bit of bad luck took Ricky Rudd out of the lead late in the race.
wav: 135 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dale Earnhardt and his crew worked all day to correct the setup on his car.
wav: 176 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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