Mountian Dew Southern 500 - Darlington Raceway

Burton Survives the Lady in Black
Ward Burton won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway, holding off Jeff Gordon by 2.333 seconds to win for the third time in his career. Burton led for 26 of the event's 367 laps, while Gordon stayed out front for 138 circuits. Burton broke a 53-race winless streak Sunday, scoring his second career victory at the historic 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. The win is number 162 for Dodge in NASCAR Winston Cup competition, Buddy Baker scored the last win for Dodge at Darlington on May 2, 1971. Bobby Labonte crossed the stripe in the third spot, while Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott rounded out the top five.

Rookie Busch Tames Darlington Qualifying
Rookie Kurt Busch proved that he could tame the track dubbed "Too Tough To Tame", at least for qualifying. Busch qualified in 29.263 seconds, an average speed of 168.048 mph, to claim his first career pole position. Winston cup point leader and five-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon will start from the outside pole. Teammates Jeremy Mayfield and Rusty Wallace will start third and fourth respectively.