Jeff Burton wins the 2008 Food City 500 at Bristol. He became visibly upset in August when it was suggested that the newly resurfaced Bristol Motor Speedway had gone from one of NASCAR’s most exciting tracks to one of the most boring.

It didn’t seem so ridiculous with three laps left in Sunday’s scheduled 500-lap race at what is advertised as the “world’s fastest half-mile.” Other than a few spinouts and minor incidents, the world’s best stock car drivers might as well have been at California Speedway, there was so little drama.

Kevin Harvick got into the side of Tony Stewart’s car trying to pass inside for second place. That sent Stewart first into a spin, then into a verbal tirade.

On the ensuing green-white-checkered finish, Burton flew past Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, for the lead and pulled away for his first Bristol victory.

Harvick finished second and Clint Bowyer third to give Richard Childress Racing a podium sweep on a day that belonged to JGR — Stewart, Hamlin and Kyle Busch led 372 of what turned into 506 laps with six laps of overtime.

Then the real Bristol fireworks began, and not the ones flaring over the track as Burton did his burnout.