Burton, AT&T Racing Team Survive Multi-Car Incident to Finish 11th at Richmond
| Race/Date: | Crown Royal 400/May 3, 2008 |
| Location: | Richmond (Va.) International Raceway |
| Start Position: | 33th |
| Finish Position: | 11th |
| Points Position: | Second (Dropped one spot) |
Jeff Burton and the AT&T Racing team overcame a 33rd-place starting position to earn an 11th-place effort in Saturday night's Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Although the formable finish wasn't good enough to maintain the top spot in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings, the team posted their 10th top 15 in as many starts this season. Burton trails current point leader Kyle Busch by a mere 18 points.
While a less than desired qualifying effort wasn't what the AT&T Racing team was looking for, they knew they had a very competitive car in race trim.
As soon as the green flag fell in front of Richmond's sell-out crowd, Burton began to climb the leaderboard despite chasing a loose-handling AT&T Chevy.
Adjustments to the bright orange machine by the Scott Miller-led team allowed the 20-time Cup Series winner to crack the top 15 by lap 157.
Burton maintained his footing in the top 15 over the next 100 laps but bad luck struck the AT&T camp on lap 229 when an 11-car incident took place at the entrance of turn three. The South Boston, Va., native became a victim of circumstance but was able to escape the melee with only slight fender damage. After the AT&T over-the-wall crew bolted on four fresh Goodyear tires and pulled out the fenders so there would not be any tire rubs, Burton was back in the game.
After restarting 17th, the 40-year-old driver spent the remaining laps of the 400-mile contest dealing with the ill-tempered bright orange Chevy and eventually soldiered his way to an 11th-place finish.
Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer captured his first victory of the season. He was followed to the finish line by Busch and Mark Martin. Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five finishers.
Burton's fellow RCR teammate Kevin Harvick finished eighth.
Next weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series circuit continues its southeast swing and will head to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for their annual Mother's Day weekend event. Live coverage of the Dodge Challenger 500 begins Saturday, May 10 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time 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 11th of 36 points-paying Cup Series races will air live on SPEED, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio Friday, May 9 at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
“We were loose for most of the race. We got caught up in the big incident halfway through the race but were fortunate to escape with only some minor fender damage. The AT&T team did a great job of fixing the car and getting it to where we could race. Although we finished 11th, we had a good points day.”
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