Burton took advantage by preparing for long runs

You have to love the machismo of Raul Julia's character, Franco Bertollini in the 1976 movie Gumball Rally. As the cars were queued up just before the start of the cross-country race, Franco turned to his co-driver and offered this memorable line, "And now my friend, the firsta rule of Italian driving ..." (At this point he snaps the rearview mirror off his Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider and tosses it aside.) "... Whatsa behind me is not important!"

While good for a laugh, Franco's bravado proved to be terrible racing advice. Franco lost.

And had he driven in Sunday's Samsung 500, he'd a lost that race, too.

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In fact, there were a lot of guys who looked like they were not terribly concerned with who was behind them because they ran so strong. First it was Jeff Gordon who, for a great portion of the race, easily had the measure of the field.

Then it was Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon again and finally Matt Kenseth.

When each took the lead of the race, they looked like they were going to take the field by the scruff of the neck and not let go. But lurking in each of their rearview mirrors the whole time was Jeff Burton.

Apart from green flag pit stop cycles, at no point in the race did Jeff Burton drop out of the top five. At no point in the race did he make a bid for the lead, either. That is, until the closing laps of the race. What a great, nail biting, side-by-side battle. It was deja vu all over again.

Just like the second Dover race in '06, Jeff and Matt raced hard and clean for several laps to decide it. The difference being this time, Jeff didn't pull off the decisive pass until the very last lap and Matt didn't run out of fuel.

A lot of people like to get on my case about my appreciation for good, clean racing. Whether you like the winners or not, whether you like the Car Of Tomorrow or not, we've all had it really good lately. The conclusions of the last three races have been nothing short of spectacular.

Formula One, Champ Car, IRL, MotoGP, nobody has had as good of racing as NASCAR has produced this season. That's saying something.

Jeff Burton's run Sunday was a classic example of choosing a race strategy and letting the race come to you. Scott Miller, crew chief for the No. 31, prepared the car for long runs and nailed the setup. According to timing loop data, the No. 31 was fastest all day on long runs. And through Turns 1 and 2, where the winning pass took place, Jeff carried the fastest average speeds by a wide margin.

Short runs were the team's Achilles heel.

"We struggled a little bit taking off for the first 15 laps, to the 24 [Gordon] and 48 [Jimmie Johnson] especially, and the No. 8 [Earnhardt Jr.] which was really good there," Miller said. "Once it would sort itself out, after about 15 or 20 laps, we were faster than anybody but we'd lost that ground because our car wasn't at all set up for the short run."

At the end of the race, it all came together in dramatic fashion. Jeff's car held fast just as Matt's car lost grip after bring driven so hard at the limit for so many laps.

I really don't think many front runners noticed the 31 car hanging around in their rearview mirrors all day long. If they had, they probably also didn't notice the message etched into the mirror that reads: "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.