Burton looking for first Bristol Cup sweep since '03

It's not how many laps you lead, it's which laps you lead. Just ask Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton.

Stewart led 267 laps in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in March but finished a disappointing 14th after Kevin Harvick knocked Stewart into the wall while the two battled for second with two laps to go. Burton led both laps of the green-white-checkered finish for his 20th career victory.

Fast facts

What	Sharpie 500
When	8 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	ESPN, 7 p.m. ET
Radio	PRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 7 ET

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• By the Numbers: Bristol

Burton will try to win two races in a season for the first time since 2001 as well as become the first driver since Kurt Busch in 2003 to sweep both races at Bristol in Saturday night's Sharpie 500. Stewart, meanwhile, will try to win his first Cup race in a year.

"The way we won the race earlier in the year, making a pass with a couple laps to go, was really exciting," Burton said. "It certainly is the highlight of the year so far. For some reason, we typically run better in the fall race than we do in the spring race. Hopefully, we can put ourselves in position to do that again."

Stewart has five top-five finishes at Bristol including his only win there in 2001. Those good runs have been offset by 11 finishes of 15th or worse, including two DNFs. Four times Stewart has led at least 225 laps at Bristol and not won.

"Bristol is a track that's feast or famine," Stewart said. "If you have a really good day, it's a lot of fun. But if you have one little problem, it normally makes for a very long day. We've had more long days than good days."

Burton heads into Bristol fifth in the series standings. Although he's not locked into the 12-driver field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, it's a near certainty he'll make the cut. That means his mindset going into Saturday's race is somewhat different from drivers who need points to make the Chase.

"Bristol is a lot of fun to be quite honest," Burton said. "It's stressful when you are racing for points -- it makes it tough. On the other hand, it's a lot of fun. It's very physical and very competitive. It is an emotionally draining race as well as being physically draining. There is never a chance to take a break. It's challenging and can be very rewarding, but it can also break your heart pretty quickly."

Bristol's year-old surface -- the track was reconfigured and repaved in time for the August race last year -- allows drivers much more racing room than in years past.

"I don't know what it's like to watch, but from where I sit, racing at Bristol is pretty fun," Stewart said. "You can run all over the racetrack, which is what's so fun about it. You can race. Guys aren't running over each other to pass each other. You can work the outside, you can work the inside, you can go and race people instead of the normal, just-bump-people-out-of-the-way-and-go-on-by style we used to have.

"You aren't having to root guys out of the way. We should thank everybody at Bristol Motor Speedway for doing what they did. It worked, and it worked well. I can't give it a better grade than A-plus."