KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Jeff Burton sure has beaten up on Dale Earnhardt’s boys this weekend.

A day after being critical of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for driving earlier in the year after a serious concussion, Burton took away what would have been Kerry Earnhardt’s  the late Dale’s eldest son  first-ever Busch Series victory Saturday when Burton won the Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway.

“He ran me down in no time,” said the rookie Earnhardt, the half brother of Dale Jr. Kerry led the first laps of his career in his 38th start and recorded his best-ever finish in second, 3.272 seconds behind Burton.

Burton said he was just doing his job.

“I’d love to see Kerry win,” Burton said. “As long as I wasn’t in the race. We have a job to do, no matter who’s in front of us. It’s our job to go and get in front of them.”

Burton guided his fluorescent orange-and-green Gain Ford Taurus to the finish line after passing Earnhardt with 28 laps to go.

But Burton credited his crew and a final pit stop for enabling him to win for the fourth time in 11 Busch races this year.

“Those guys we have are Winston Cup-caliber people,” Burton said of chief Brad Parrott and his crew. “He and his guys are doing it. I’m literally much different than I used to be. I’m truly just a driver in that deal and they’ve just done a great job.”

On that final pit, Earnhardt decided to take just fuel, while Burton changed all four tires.

The difference was evident when Burton blew passed Earnhardt for the lead near the start-finish line on the 172nd lap.

“He’s like that everywhere he goes,” Earnhardt said. “We didn’t have nothing for him.”

The second Busch race at the Speedway in front of a capacity crowd of close to 80,000 fans had its share of dull moments Saturday, because there were nine wreck cautions  tying the most for a Busch event this season.

But the race also featured 15 different leaders, the most of any event this season.

Pole-sitter Michael Waltrip led a total of 27 laps on three different occasions, but had to end his day early when he careened into the wall on lap No. 156 when a tire apparently was cut.

“It all of the sudden turned around in (Turn) 3,” Waltrip said. “I don’t know if I ran over something or what.”

Rookie of the Year points leader Scott Riggs led the most laps, 52, in the Ford that Jeff Green used to win the inaugural race at the Speedway last season. But Riggs received a stop-and-go penalty for a loose tire on a pit stop near the halfway point and finished 23rd.

Joe Nemechek took third, while Busch Series points leader Greg Biffle came in fourth, holding off Tony Raines.

Biffle, who along with Burton both race for car owner Jack Roush, expanded his lead in the Busch Series standings to 127 points over Jason Keller, whose engine broke after 169 laps and forced him to finish 30th.

“Some things you can’t control and this is one of them,” Keller said. “We try to do the best we can and something broke in the motor.”