Jeff Burton and the LENOX Racing team looked like they were on their way to achieving another top-10 performance when an untimely thunderstorm halted any forward progress, cutting the race 17 laps short of the scheduled distance.

The team continued their string of consistent finishes by posting a 12th-place effort and has yet to post a finish outside the top 15. The strong run also allowed Burton and Company to maintain the second position in the season championship point standings and shaved 39 points off Kyle Busch's lead. The 20-time Cup Series winner now trails Busch by 39 points and is 80 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third, 170 forward of Carl Edwards in fourth and 212 ahead of Jimmie Johnson in fifth.

A less than desired qualifying effort of 31st didn't hamper any spirits in the LENOX camp as the red, white and blue Chevy rocketed through the field and cracked the top 15 on lap 35.

Despite chasing a loose-handling machine, Burton cautiously paced the “Magic Mile” and maintained his footing in the top 15 after a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 70.

While running 11th on lap 139, the yellow flag was displayed for debris and provided an opportunity for crew chief Scott Miller to tighten up the LENOX Chevy. Sound work on pit road by the over-the-wall crew netted Burton four spots and he restarted the scheduled 301-lap event seventh.

Burton never missed a beat over the second half of the event as he raced inside the top 10 over the next 136 circuits. However, with thunderstorms threatening the Loudon area and the No. 31 Chevy short on fuel, Miller had to construct a strategy that would hopefully play in to the hands of the LENOX Racing team.

The sixth caution of the day, which slowed the 43-car field on lap 271, became the turning point in the 318.5-mile contest. All crew chiefs were on their toes as the field slowly rolled off turn four and Miller quickly summoned his veteran driver to the pit box for a quick splash of fuel.

The South Boston, Va., native lost five spots on the gamble and restarted 13th on lap 278. The top eight cars that took the green flag did not pit with the next five cars taking only fuel on their pit stop.

The field only returned to green flag action for one lap as a multi-car incident broke out on lap 279, forcing NASCAR to display the final caution of the day.

With heavy rain drops falling from the sky, NASCAR brought the field down pit road and eventually called the race 17 laps shy of the scheduled 301, crediting Burton with at 12th-place finish.

Kurt Busch captured his first Cup Series victory of the 2008 season while Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr. and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top-five finishers.

Burton's Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick finished the rain-shortened event 14th. Fellow teammate Clint Bowyer finished 22nd after Sam Hornish Jr. made contact with the third-year Cup Series driver while running fifth on lap 280.

Next weekend the NASCAR Cup Series takes their tour down south to the Sunshine State for the third restrictor-plate race of the season.

The Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, July 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30pm EDT and will broadcast coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Friday, July 4 at 4 p.m. EDT.

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