Burton outlasts Martin in final Busch Series race

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - In what was the final day of 26 years of Anheuser-Busch sponsoring what has become known as the Busch Series, there was a battle among some of the all-time winners in the series.

Mark Martin, who owns the series record with 47 career victories, ended up one spot short of notching No. 48 in the Ford 300 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jeff Burton, fourth in all-time wins, increased his number to 27 as he held off a furious rally from Martin driving in a Hendrick Motorsports car.

Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth (sixth on the win list with 23) was third and his teammate, 2007 series champion Carl Edwards, was fourth after also giving Burton as much as he could handle late in the race.

All Burton had to do was start the race and clinch the 2007 owners title for the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing team, which split the season between Burton and Scott Wimmer.

Anheuser-Busch will not sponsor the series starting next year. Nationwide will sponsor NASCAR's "No. 2" series.

RCR's Kevin Harvick, second on the series all-time wins list with 32, led 84 laps but had a tire roll away on a pit stop to ruin his hopes.

"That was a lot of fun," Burton said. "That is what racing is all about. Mark Martin, he is my hero, to race him for a win in a Rick Hendrick car, that was a lot of fun.

"I'm excited as I can be to win the last Busch Grand National Series race. ... It means a lot."

Martin said he will drive five races in the series next season for Hendrick again.

"It is a true honor to drive for Rick Hendrick," Martin said. "[We've had] two second-place finishes [this year]. We came up short. We do have a lot of fire and desire."

Edwards celebrated his championship, where he finished with a 618-point margin over Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann.

"That was fun racing with Mark and those guys," said Edwards, who led by more than 800 points during parts of the season. "I just can't thank everyone enough. ... We had an awesome lead in the driver standings [early in the year]. I really felt good out of the gate at Daytona."

Following Edwards and Reutimann in points were Braun Racing's Jason Leffler (809 points behind Edwards), Harvick (-812), Roush Fenway's David Ragan (-1,066), Team Rensi Motorsports' Bobby Hamilton Jr. (-1,138), Robert Yates Racing's Stephen Leicht (-1,202), Wood Brothers/JTG Racing's Marcos Ambrose (-1,328), Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle (-1,339) and Kenseth (-1,354).

The final margin in the owners championship was 255 points for the RCR team over the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Ragan was the series rookie of the year.

• Mentioned Drivers:
• Carl Edwards