Burton charges from 36th to win at Dover

Burton charges from 36th to win at Dover
Jeff Burton had the biggest come-from-behind win ever in a Busch Series race at Dover International Speedway, overcoming a 36th-place starting position for his second victory of the season Saturday.
Burton, eighth in the Nextel Cup standings, grabbed the lead for good with 18 laps left and pulled away to win the caution-marred race. He has 22 career Busch victories.
"We were really good, but on long runs we were unbelievably good," Burton said. "The car was fast all day. The race at the end was a lot of fun. It doesn't get much better than that."

Carl Edwards, who led most of the early laps, finished second for his sixth top-five finish of the season. Kurt Busch was third as the Cup regulars again dominated the series.

Burton's win made Nextel Cup regulars a perfect 14-for-14 in Busch races this season. He also won in Atlanta.

The race was slowed by eight cautions for 34 laps, which knocked several drivers out of the race. There were 11 lead changes among eight drivers.

Rain wiped out qualifying, putting series points leader Kevin Harvick on the pole. Harvick finished 13th and increased his lead on Edwards to 297 points.

"That was probably racing at its finest," Busch said. "That turned into a great race to watch."

Burton, making only his seventh Busch start of the season, said there was less pressure on his team starting from the back because they weren't really racing for series points.

"I told them before it started raining it would be cool if it rained," Burton said. "The opportunity to start in the back, I didn't look it as a detriment, I looked at it as something that could be fun and unique."

Clint Bowyer led 62 laps and finished fourth. Ron Hornaday Jr. and Kyle Busch rounded out the top six. Hornaday's finish was his highest since 2004.

Edwards led as late as the 149th lap, but he couldn't regain the lead after he decided to pit for new tires under caution with 49 laps remaining. Burton was one of only five drivers on the lead lap who stayed out, and that was enough to finally surge past Kurt Busch on No. 182.

"I got up to second and I couldn't catch him," Edwards said. "I think we did everything we could, but he had a faster car or he did a better job driving, one of the two."

Edwards was second for the second day in a row after losing to Mark Martin on Friday night in the Craftsman Truck Series race. He'll start the Cup race Sunday in 25th and hopes for a better result in the tripleheader.

"I'd really like to win one of these things this weekend," Edwards said. "That would be a pretty good one to win."

Scott Wimmer held the Dover record for largest comeback, charging from 26th place to win in 2002.