Luck helps Burton win Busch race

Jeff Burton didn’t need any last-lap heroics this time. But he did need a little luck.

The longtime NASCAR star made it two Busch Series victories in a row Saturday, easily holding off Richard Childress Racing teammate and reigning Busch champion Kevin Harvick to win the Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

A week ago in Las Vegas, Burton made a late charge to catch Kyle Busch, colliding with the leader and sending Busch crashing into the wall as he zoomed past just before the checkered flag. Busch slid backward across the finish line in second.

Busch again appeared to be on the way to a victory Saturday, building leads of a full straightaway before the last of six caution flags came out on lap 167 of the 195-lap race when Todd Kluever hit the wall after being hit from behind by open-wheel star Sam Hornish Jr.

All the leaders pitted and Busch easily led everyone back onto the track. But a NASCAR official spotted a missing lugnut on Busch’s left front wheel and called him back into the pits. The Hendrick Motorsports driver fell all the way to 15th for the restart.

The race restarted on lap 174 and Busch charged through the field. He got all the way to third before running out of laps.

Series points leader Carl Edwards finished fourth, followed by Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer in the third RCR car, Kasey Kahne, rookie Juan Montoya – the former Formula One star’s best stock car finish on an oval – Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart – all cup regulars who will also race on the 1.5-mile oval in today’s Kobalt Tools 500.

Stewart was penalized for pitting too soon during the last caution and restarted just behind Busch in 16th. But he was not able to get through the traffic as well as Busch.

“Obviously, the 5 car (Busch) was the class of the field,” said Burton, who earned his 24th Busch win. “We thought we might have something for him there for a while, but he was just too fast. He was in another league.”

Busch was bitterly disappointed again.

“All in all, it’s just a frustrating, disappointing day,” the 21-year-old racer said. “It’s so hard to win one of these things and, when you have a car that’s so good and you can’t capitalize, you’re ready to go home and just cry.

“I think this week’s worse (than Las Vegas) because you come down pit road and you depend on those guys. They missed the lug or it fell off or whatever. Last week, there wasn’t anything else I could have done except maybe squeezed (Burton) up closer to the wall.”

Busch said he still thought he had a shot at the win after the late restart.

Bad luck for Newman

When Ryan Newman noticed a miss in the engine while winning the pole Friday night, he never expected it would force him to the back of the field.

Newman’s Penske Racing team changed the engine on his No. 12 Dodge, meaning he’ll start from the rear of the 43-car field in today’s Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Hampton, Ga.

“We made nine laps this morning (in practice),” Newman said. “It was tightening up coming off (turn) four and we had a pretty good amount of oil in one of the spark plugs. Something was wrong.”

Still, Newman wasn’t too discouraged.

“This is the best racetrack if you have to go to the rear,” he said. “Obviously, we don’t want to do it, but we’ve got a great car. I’m not going to complain at all about luck or a break. This stuff happens once in a while.”

Newman’s lap of 193.124 mph ended a drought of 21 races without a pole for NASCAR’s premier qualifier, who has earned the nickname Rocketman with his 38 career poles in just over five years in Cup.

With Newman moving to the back after the cars start up today, pole runner-up Elliott Sadler, who is 10th in the points after the first three races, will start the race from the No. 1 spot.

Busch turns up speed

Former series champion Kurt Busch, who hasn’t won a race since taking the checkered flag at Bristol last March, was by far the fastest in the final Nextel Cup practice session.

Busch turned a fast lap of 188.758 mph, while Carl Edwards was second fastest at 188.360.

Also in the top 10 were last week’s Las Vegas winner Jimmie Johnson, J.J. Yeley, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, series points leader Mark Martin, Brian Vickers in the fastest Toyota and Scott Riggs.

Defending race champion Kasey Kahne was 16th, just behind fall race winner Tony Stewart, while Newman, with his new engine, was 25th, well off the leaders’ pace at 124.825.

Gordon sponsor approved

Robby Gordon will get to start today’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a primary sponsor on his No. 7 Chevrolet after all.

Gordon, an owner/driver in the Cup series, showed up at the track Thursday with the logo of his Busch Series sponsor, Motorola, on his car. NASCAR immediately told Gordon that, because of the non-compete clause in its contract with telecommunications giant Sprint Nextel, which sponsors its premier series, he could not make the change.

But NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said a compromise was reached.

“We’ve worked with members of Robby’s team to come up with a reasonable paint scheme solution for tomorrow’s race,” Hunter said. “When the team unloaded here this week, the car had a paint scheme on it that had yet to be approved. Due to the limited time frame, we worked with Robby and his team to come up with a non-wireless solution.

“He will therefore run in tomorrow’s race an approved paint scheme carrying a digital audio player Motorola design on the car.”

Hunter said Gordon will be allowed to use those logos for the rest of the Cup season.

Formula One

Kimi Raikkonen won in his first race for Ferrari, dominating the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for his 10th Formula One victory.

Raikkonen started from pole position, and led almost throughout the race to edge world champion Fernando Alonso, who was making his McLaren debut.