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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Clint Bowyer said he would have pushed teammate Jeff Burton to the win Sunday had they been in a clump of cars on the final lap Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Instead, they were alone.

So, Bowyer made his move.

Bowyer got by Burton coming to the finish line and held it even after they touched to win this race for the second consecutive year.

"He worked so well with me all day long, you hate that it comes down to that," Bowyer said of Burton. "Unfortunately, it came down to that situation."

Said Burton: "I don't know whether to be excited or upset. After the year we've had, it's good to be in position to win a race. Whenever you leave here not wrecked, you ought to be happy. At the same time, I'm heartbroken we didn't win the race."

The victory assures Bowyer a spot in next year's all-star race. He'll compete in that race for Michael Waltrip Racing, the team he's moving to after this season.

"It's just so important to me to be able to cap off such a good relationship with Richard (Childress)," Bowyer said after his first victory of the season.

BEST FINISH: Dave Blaney tied his career-best finish by placing third Sunday. The first time he finished third was at Darlington in 2003. He most recently finished third at Talladega in 2007.

"Obviously, we have to thank Brad Keselowski, (who) stayed with us all day long, every lap," Blaney said. "When you get somebody committed to you no matter what, it makes it a lot easier. Then it's just the timing at the end. We were in the right place at the right time and squeezed through a couple of holes."

BAD TIMING: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson ran together at the back of the pack most of the race with the plan to make their move late.

Instead, Earnhardt finished 25th and Johnson placed 26th.

"We felt like we were in a good position to make our move inside those 20 laps to go and we just kept having cautions and that sort of hurt our strategy a little bit and didn't give us a chance there with two to go," Earnhardt said. "I mean, we run up on guys five wide, you can't go nowhere."

LABONTE STAYING: JTG Daugherty announced that Bobby Labonte will return to the team next season and that Todd Berrier will be his crew chief along with being the organization's general manager.

Berrier had been with Richard Childress Racing for nearly two decades before leaving earlier this season.

The team will remain with Toyota but will move from the Michael Waltrip Racing shop back to its old shop, which it will share with the Wood Brothers.

PIT STOPS: Brian Vickers' fifth-place finish tied for his best finish of the season. He also finished fifth at Dover in May and New Hampshire last month. ... Kasey Kahne's sixth-place finish marked his fourth consecutive finish of sixth or better.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com