Busch wins gentlemanly NASCAR event

BRISTOL, Tenn. – As Jeff Burton considered how to beat Kyle Busch in the closing laps at Bristol Motor Speedway, he couldn’t shake the lessons his mother taught him as a child.

“My mother always told me to do onto other people the way you want them to do you,” Burton remembered. “That’s the only thing I know to do. I’ve always tried to let the guy I am racing with set the rules. … Kyle drives hard. He drives really hard. But he’s always raced me with respect.”

And with that, Burton refused to bump Busch out of the way Sunday, instead pulling alongside of him before Busch beat him in a drag race to the finish line to win the first Car of Tomorrow race.

The two have battled in the Busch Series this season, and had a stirring door-to-door duel in Las Vegas two weeks ago that Burton won as Busch spun backward across the finish line.

Busch took the lead with 16 laps to go on a smooth pass around Denny Hamlin in thick traffic and stayed there through a pair of cautions. He had driven away from the competition when the 15th and final caution set up a three-lap overtime.

Burton jumped past Jeff Gordon on the restart and quickly pulled onto Busch’s rear bumper. Burton looked low and Busch threw a block, then he went high and Busch blocked that, too.

Burton finally pulled alongside Busch as they closed in on the finish line, but Busch nipped him at the flag for his first Nextel Cup victory on a short track.

Both drivers could have spun Busch to get past him, and the 21 year old appreciated the veterans for racing him clean.

“Without Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton behind me, I never would have won this race,” Busch said.

Gordon, the polesitter, wound up third and was thrilled with the effort after struggling for most of the race.

The COT spent seven years in development as NASCAR tried to build a uniform car that would cut costs, improve safety and even the competition. It will be used in 16 races this season as NASCAR phases it in through the 2009 season.