Burton wins Busch race at LVMS.

Vivas Las Vegas! It was a great day for the No. 9 GAIN Laundry Detergent Ford Taurus at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Driver Jeff Burton and crew chief Brad Parrott, along with the entire team, put together a package that no one could beat.

From the time the No. 9 car rolled off the transporter until victory lane, it was the fastest car in the field. During the first practice session on Friday, Burton said the car was a little loose going into the corners and a little tight through the middle. However, he still managed to post the second fastest time.

Burton was 17th out to qualify and took the pole during his second lap at a time of 31.921. Even though the sun was shining it was bitterly cold with strong winds, a weather pattern that would be repeated on race day.

It was a bright sunshiny day in the Nevada desert on Saturday morning but the winds were a howling. The race began at 1:00 p.m. and the 43-car field was set to run 200 laps for a total of 300 miles.

During pre-race, Burton greeted fellow celebrity Wayne Newton on his way to the stage to accept the Bud Pole Award. Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune also participated in the pre-race festivities.

As the car rolled onto the track, Parrott had some encouraging words for the crew. "I appreciate all the hard work over the winter. This is what we're here for fellas. We'll take this GAIN #9 car to the front 14 times this year with effort like you have put in."

Meanwhile, Burton spoke to Darryl Waltrip on the radio to kick off the TV coverage. Waltrip asked Burton, "What is your strategy going into the race?" Burton replied, "We're gonna drive real hard. We have Jimmy Spencer and Jeff Green around us and they're gonna drive hard so if I don't, I'll be in trouble." Waltrip then chimed in, "You know those colours are my favorite." Burton replied, "We're gonna make you talk about it a lot today." And he was right.

From the first green flag lap on, Burton basically took the lead and held it. The field got strung out early on and the racing continued like that for a good part of the day. Twelve laps into the race, the first of five cautions flew. The No. 9 GAIN Ford made its first pit stop on lap 66 and took on four tyres and fuel while also making an air pressure and wedge adjustment in a time of 18.13 seconds.

The No. 9 team followed that pit stop up with two more with times of 17.9 and 16.69 seconds respectively.

On lap 122 Burton radioed that the car felt better in the race than in Happy Hour the day before, and this was evident on the track. Burton continued to lead the race for the majority. In the end, Burton and the No. 9 GAIN team came up with yet another victory at Las Vegas, garnering Burton the title of most prize money earned in Busch and Winston Cup at Las Vegas.

When the No. 9 car took the chequered flag, Parrott came over the radio with the car's nickname, Edwin. "Jeff I would like to nickname this car Edwin after Darryl's dad who passed away."

Darryl Morrow, car chief, lost his father the week before the race and the car and race were dedicated to his memory.

The victory lane celebration was a big one as Burton and the rest of the crew were able to celebrate with the folks from GAIN. During his post-race interview, Burton commented, "We have Winston Cup caliber guys on this team. They really stepped it up today and I'm real proud of them. I told Brad early on that I wanted people to look at our car and drool because it was so perfect. That's exactly what happened."

Next stop, Darlington for the No. 9 GAIN team. The team hopes to continue their momentum and take the No. 9 GAIN car to victory lane again.