Burton Gambles, Wins Cup Race At Charlotte

Concord, NC (AHN) - Jeff Burton gambled with a final gas-and-go stop and kept track position and it was that move that kept him out front and drove him to a victory Saturday night in the Bank of America 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway.

Burton won his second race of the season and first of The Chase by turning the consistent laps he's turned all season to hold off Kasey Kahne for the victory.

"(Crew chief) Scott (Miller) made a great call there and we were at our best on old tires,'' said Burton. "It was just a great night for us. I'm just proud of everybody.''

It was Burton's first win of the season since winning at Bristol and the win enabled him to move up a spot in the points to second behind points leader Jimmie Johnson.

Burton led twice for 58 laps, but it was the gamble to not get cars and stay out front on that last stop that paid off and got him the win.

"The numbers said we had enough but I wouldn't have had enough for a green-white-checkered,'' said Scott Miller, Burton's crew chief. "We were good at the right time tonight.''

Kahne settled for runner-up honors and his best finish since June while brother Kurt and Kyle Busch ran third and fourth respectively and Jamie McMurray placed fifth.

"We just had some clean air and we got out towards the front,'' said Kahne. "I tried catching him and we did all we could and we just came up short tonight.''

Johnson, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and David Ragan were among the top-10 finishers as three Chasers struggled on the evening.

In a race that saw 24 lead changes among 16 different leaders, Carl Edwards had engine problems, lost 16 laps repairing it and finished 33rd, while tangles with the wall resulted in a 36th place finish for Dale Earnhardt Jr., and 41st-place finish for Matt Kenseth.