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DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Jeff Burton made one fan a millionaire,
and gave himself a thrill money can't buy.
Burton, the driver the fan selected against four others in a
blind draw, won the rain-shortened Southern 500 on Sunday, giving
him a sweep of the Winston Cup events this year at Darlington
Raceway. Although he won the TranSouth 400 just over five months
ago, Burton said what he wanted more than anything was a victory in
NASCAR's oldest race.
| |  | | Jeff Burton's pit crew celebrates after winning the rain-shortened Southern 500 on Sunday at Darlington Raceway. |
"I'm really proud," said the 32-year-old driver, who grew up
in Virginia dreaming about it. "To win the Southern 500 is a big
deal."
It certainly was. He collected a $1 million promotional bonus,
as did Phylis Farmer of Hillsboro, Mo. She earned some of it,
anxiously sitting out a rain delay knowing her driver could be
beaten if the race got restarted.
It did, but never went beyond the caution stage, making leader
Burton the winner.
"I just kept looking up at the sky and saying, 'Please, God,
let it keep raining,'" she said.
The victory was his fifth this year, tying Burton with Jeff
Gordon for the most on the Winston Cup circuit and ending The Kid's
record run of Southern 500 victories at four.
"We were real smart today," Burton said. "This time, we
didn't burn up our tires. That's how the 24 (Gordon) has been
beating us here."
Burton beat the track they call "The Lady in Black" despite
crashing at the finish in a rain storm that ended the TranSouth 400
after just 164 of 293 scheduled laps in March. But the victory left
some unanswered questions.
Foremost was whether he would have beaten Gordon -- to whom he
finished second in the last two Southern 500s -- had the race gone
the distance. On Sunday, in the 50th edition of NASCAR's original
superspeedway event, Burton looked like the class of the field.
Still, the questions will linger, because this race also ended
because of rain with 97 laps remaining.
"I hate to have it end under conditions like it did," Burton
said. "But I think we had the best car."
He said he wanted to prove how good his Ford really was.
Burton, who had not been feeling well in recent days, got a big
break from the weather.
"When I walked out of the motor home this morning and it was
cool, I was really happy," he said.
The curtailment, after the race was red-flagged for a second
time, came with Ward Burton in second place and resulted in the
first 1-2 finish by brothers in the Labor Day weekend classic.
The first stoppage lasted 24 minutes. After just seven
green-flag laps, the remnants of tropical storm Dennis forced a
second red flag. After waiting 1 hour, 20 minutes, and running 10
more caution laps, NASCAR declared Burton the winner.
The Burtons also finished 1-2 this season in Las Vegas.
Ward, passed for the win by his brother with nine laps left in
the Las Vegas 400, wanted another shot at him.
"If we had a few laps on fresh tires we might have made a run
at him," Ward said. "But he was better than us on the long
runs."
It was the 25th time in NASCAR history that brothers have
finished 1-2.
Jeff battled Ward, Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield over the first
half of the race. Once Jeff Burton took the lead for the fifth
time, on lap 178, he drove away each time the field sorted itself
out following caution periods for rain and mishaps.
It became obvious that fate was the only legitimate contender.
But it never came calling, and those who stayed on the track
briefly during rain-caused cautions, pitted before the event was
twice red-flagged with Burton in front.
After the Pontiac of Ward Burton, came Mayfield's Ford and that
of Mark Martin.
Gordon, who lost three positions on the final pit stop, was
fifth when the final restart was attempted. But he pitted for tires
and wound up 13th.
Points leader Dale Jarrett, whose terrible qualifying effort
resulted in a 36th-place start, wound up 16th. His lead in the
standings over Martin fell from 213 points to 168.
"If that happens again, the race will be on," Martin said,
alluding to the loss by Jarrett of 146 points in the last two
races.
Jarrett also lost four positions for a tire stop that backfired
when an impending green flag was precluded by the rain.
Jeff Burton led 89 of the 270 laps, collecting $148,170 from a
purse of $2.2 million and the $1 million bonus from the series
sponsor.
There were 20 lead changes among 10 drivers in a race slowed for
62 laps by six caution flags. They reduced Burton's average speed
to 107.816 mph.
Kevin Lepage, Burton's teammate, was fifth, followed by Joe
Nemechek, Bobby Hamilton, Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader and Steve
Park.
Jerry Nadeau, who started third as the replacement for the
retired Ernie Irvan, hit the wall hard on the 50th lap. He
complained of a neck injury that was not believed to be serious,
but he was held overnight for observation at a hospital in
Florence. | |
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jeff Burton wins the Southern 500.
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