Burton classy in both driving style ... and victory

FORT WORTH, Texas -- He's done it again. On Sunday, Jeff Burton made a clean move on the racetrack and showed why he's the model citizen in a town that's gone corrupt with violence.

For three weeks people wondered why Burton didn't punt Kyle Busch as the two came to the white flag at Bristol. Burton's nose was inches away from Busch's rear bumper as they came off Turn 4, but he let off. His nose was inches away coming through the final turn, but Burton stayed low -- so low that he likely lost momentum that could have carried him to victory. He didn't try to wreck Busch. In fact, he tried not to and ended up losing because of it.

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"Knocking someone out of the way is a little bit of pleasure for about two minutes," Burton said. "But you didn't win the race. You just give up some integrity to win a trophy. That's not what I'm about and that's not what this team is about. We're going to do it the right way -- we're going to win races with credibility. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's who I am."

So after three and a half laps of toying with Matt Kenseth -- pulling alongside him only to tuck back behind him on the straightaways -- Burton made the final attempt stick. He didn't wreck him. In fact, he tried not to and ended up winning because of it.

"After Bristol everybody acts as if I gave Kyle Busch the race. Kyle Busch won [that] race," Burton said. "Matt Kenseth put himself in a position to win this race. Fortunately we found a way to get by him."

Burton's inability to allow himself to wreck Busch at Bristol may be trumped by the historic backdrop that was planted in Busch winning the first Car of Tomorrow race. Burton's ability to get around his former teammate to become the first two-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway may be overshadowed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving someone else's car or a 13-lap stretch that changed the complexion of the Samsung 500.

But this is good racing.

"I've never seen a boring race," Burton said after his victory. "What the hell can be boring about cars going 200 mph, 43 of them, on a racetrack? You don't get many races like what you had [Sunday]. Nor does every basketball game get triple overtime."

You don't get many races like you had Sunday because you don't get many drivers like Burton. (Continued)