Jeff Burton claimed his first victory at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday, getting past Denny Hamlin in a two-lap sprint to win the Food City 500.
Burton's Chevrolet led a 1-2-3 sweep for Richard Childress Racing at BMS, as teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer finished second and third, respectively. It was the first sweep of the top three finishes in RCR history.
It was a gratifying win for Burton, who came close to winning this race a year ago, but finished second to eventual winner Kyle Busch.
"We're run well here and we've put ourselves in position (to win) several times," he said. "Several people questioned not taking Kyle out last year. I chose not to do that and those things have a way of coming back to you and today it really did."
Burton couldn't have been more pleased with the way he was able to race at the World's Fastest Half-Mile, which was newly concreted prior to last August's NASCAR races.
"I'm a fan of this facility," he said. "If you want to watch racing, this new track made it better. This race track lets you breathe. If you are faster you can drive by. It is so much better than it used to be.
"It is important (to win here). This is a special facility. It is hard to explain. You have to be smart and aggressive. There are no fluke winners here."
Greg Biffle finished fourth, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, David Gilliland and Matt Kenseth.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Tony Stewart, Hamlin and Kyle Busch dominated the race as the three combined to lead 372 laps, but only Hamlin finished among the top 10.
Stewart led 267 laps, but made contact with Harvick late in the race to end his shot at a second Bristol win. He ended up finishing 14th.
Stewart seemed to have victory in hand when Brian Vickers crashed to bring out a caution with 11 laps to go. On the restart, Stewart jumped out to a big lead with five laps to go, but Hamlin chased him down and moved around him to take the point. Harvick, who restarted in fourth on new tires, also closed on Stewart. Going for the pass, the two made contact and Stewart went spinning into the wall.
"I just lost it there underneath of Tony. Just made a mistake," said Harvick. "They can take it for what it's worth, and move on."
