Burton’s strategy prevails

One by one the title contenders dropped out Saturday night, giving Jimmie Johnson a clear shot at widening his lead in the Chase for the championship.

Not so fast, thought Jeff Burton, who used three gas-only pit stops to pull off a victory that catapulted him into championship contention.

Burton culminated savvy pit strategy on a final stop, going into the pits with the lead and taking fuel only to make sure he was still out front on the restart with 34 laps to go at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Johnson staged a brief battle for the lead, but Burton held steady to snap a 25-race winless streak.

The victory, his second of the season, pushed Burton from fourth to second in the standings with five races to go to decide the title. He trails Johnson by 69 points.

“We’re halfway. A lot of stuff is going to happen,” Burton said. “A lot of people want to give somebody the trophy, but it’s way too early.”

Kasey Kahne, who swept the May races at the track, finished second and was followed by Kurt Busch.

Kyle Busch, the regular-season points winner, was fourth for his best finish since the Chase began five weeks ago. Jamie McMurray was fifth, and Johnson faded over the final few laps to finish sixth.

Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and David Ragan rounded out the top 10.

The night was a disaster for several Chase contenders, including Carl Edwards, who entered the race second in the standings. He lost power in his Ford early and finished 33rd to likely lose his shot at his first Sprint Cup title.

It ended a drama-filled week for Edwards, who caused a 12-car accident last Sunday in Talladega (Ala.) then scuffled with Kevin Harvick in the garage area at Lowe’s.

He left fourth in the standings, 168 behind Johnson.

“It is obviously bad for our prospects for the championship,” team owner Jack Roush said.

Scuffle grew violent

Photographs of the scuffle between Edwards and Harvick show a more physical confrontation than witnesses described, with Edwards at one point grabbing Harvick by the throat.

The two NASCAR stars argued during Thursday’s practice when Edwards confronted Harvick in his garage stall at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The photographs, obtained Saturday by the AP, show the two drivers clutching each other as their conversation grew heated.

In the five different frames, Edwards is shown grabbing Harvick by the throat, and Harvick pushing him off him and onto the hood of Harvick’s car.

Witness accounts said the two argued, Harvick turned to walk away from Edwards, and Edwards grabbed his shoulder to turn him back around. Witnesses said Harvick responded by shoving Edwards onto the car, and crew members rushing in to separate the two.

Edwards allegedly was put in a headlock by a Harvick team member as the drivers were separated.

“It’s pretty well-documented everything that happened,” Harvick said Friday. “Best thing I can tell you is we were in our pit stall and just protected our turf.”