Burton, other Virginians eager for Friday night fight

One year ago, after the rain had moved on and the laps had wound down in a Friday night Busch Series race, Jeff Burton found himself near the front at Richmond. He'd been there before. But this time, it was different.

Burton pulled alongside RCR teammate Kevin Harvick with nine laps to go, but Harvick held the high line and the position. The two went side-by-side for two laps with Harvick in the top groove and Burton down low before returning single-file. And finally, with two laps remaining, Harvick used a pair of lapped cars as a pick to secure the position and pull away for victory.

By the Numbers

In the last three races at Richmond there have been three different second-place finishers. But the winner and third place have been the same.

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"During the last 20 laps, we were all over each other and he was leading but I could never find a way around him," Burton said as he looked back on last spring's race.

Second place was nothing new for Burton at Richmond, either. It was the third time he'd been runner-up at his home track.

Being from South Boston, Richmond is as close as it gets to home for Burton in the Busch Series. He's got 20 starts at the .75-mile track and he's made a habit of feasting at the table at the end of the night.

Eleven of Burton's 20 Richmond races have resulted in top-10 finishes. He has eight top-fives and a pair of victories (spring 1998 and fall 2000). His 609 laps led are more than any other driver who will be racing in Friday's Circuit City 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

But if Burton isn't finishing well at RIR, he's likely not finishing. Of the nine races in which he didn't secure a top-10 finish, he has recorded eight DNFs. The other race was his first trip there in a Busch car, and he finished 11th. He's had blown motors and crashes, and last season summed up his career at the track. After finishing second in the spring race, he returned in the fall and led 40 laps only to bow out with a brake problem. He ended the night in 40th.

"In both of the races last year we put ourselves in a position to win," Burton said. "In the first race we got beat by Harvick and in the second we didn't have a chance to see what we could have done but we were pretty excited about our chances."

Harvick beat Burton last spring with both drivers in RCR Chevrolets. This weekend, however, the two won't be teammates on Friday night. Burton will be in RCR's No. 29, but Harvick will be driving his own No. 77 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. And it could be a special night for KHI.

Harvick is trying to become the first driver in the Busch Series to win four consecutive races at Richmond, and he has a history of celebrating milestones in his own equipment. Last year Harvick drove for RCR during the majority of the season, but he clinched the Busch title in his own car at Charlotte. (Continued)