Despite being collected in a multi-car accident on the last lap of the Aaron's 499, Jeff Burton and the AT&T Racing team held on to the NASCAR Cup Series championship points lead with a 12th-place finish at the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway.

The finish marked the team's ninth top 15 in as many starts this season, allowing Burton to lead his closest competitor and eventual race winner Kyle Busch by 22 markers in the championship point standings.

While a less than desired 38th-place qualifying effort wasn't what the AT&T Racing team was looking for, they knew they had a car for race day that was very competitive in the draft.

Knowing restrictor plate racing lends to a large number of cars running just inches apart in tight packs with no room for error, Burton cautiously raced in the top 20 for the majority of the 188-lap contest.

A hiccup during the day's second pit stop on lap 61 forced the 40-year-old driver to dive off the racing surface 28 laps later for four fresh tires and a tank full of fuel. During the lap 61 stop, Burton exited his pit stall before crew chief Scott Miller signaled him to, leaving the 2008 Food City 500 winner six gallons short of fuel.

He spent the next 14 laps riding in the 34th position, one lap down to the leader but found himself back on the lead lap when all the leaders made mandatory pit stops beginning on lap 105. A caution flag 11 laps later allowed the team to get back in the same fuel window as the rest of the field when Miller brought his driver to pit road for a routine four-tire and fuel pit stop.

The point leader continued to run in the top 20 over the closing laps and waited for the final handful of laps to make his charge toward the front.

With 13 laps remaining, the first of two multi-car incidents occurred right in front of the 2007 Chase contender. Savvy driving by the 20-time Cup Series winner allowed the AT&T Chevy to escape the melee without a scratch and restarted the final 11 laps 18th.

As the field roared off turn two on the last lap, Burton was collected in an 11-car incident but was able to limp around the superspeedway with a flat right-front tire to cross the finish line 12th.

Busch captured his second win of the 2008 season followed by Juan Pablo Montoya. Denny Hamlin, David Ragan and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-five finishers.

Burton's Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer survived the melee and finished ninth while fellow teammate Kevin Harvick was credited with a 24th-place finish after being collected in the last-lap incident.

Next week, short track action heats back up when the NASCAR Cup Series visits Richmond for the first of two stops at the division's famous three-quarter mile “Action Track.”

Live coverage of the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway will take the green flag Saturday, May 3 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and will be telecast live on FOX. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 10th of 36 points-paying Sprint Cup Series races will air live on SPEED, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio Friday, May 2 at 5:40 p.m. EDT.

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