Jack Lewis 8-25-06

Burton Comeback Driver of '06, So Far…

August 25, 2006

Jack Lewis - SCR

In 2006, the hands down choice for “mast improved” driver would have to be Jeff Burton. After scoring a top 15 finish in the last 16 events (Sunday at Michigan marked the first time since Martinsville on April 1st that Burton failed to finish in the top 15), and it couldn't have come at a worse time, three races before the “Chase.”

Midway through the 2004 Nextel Cup season, rumors were speculating that Jeff Burton's tenure at Roush Racing that went back to 1996 was going stale. After going through the season with one-race sponsorship deals, the two decided to part ways following the August 15th race at Watkins Glen of that year.

Burton moved from the Ford’s at Roush Racing to the Chevrolet’s at Richard Childress Racing (RCR). At the time the whole RCR team was not heading in the right direction, and it had seemed to be in a rut ever since the organization lost its most influential person, Dale Earnhardt, at Daytona in 2001.

Burton took over the No. 30 Chevrolet for the remainder of the ’04 season and finished each of his first three races with his new team in the top 15. In 2005, he jumped over to the No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet. Expectations were high for Burton and company, and also for the whole RCR group. Through the first 10 races, Burton had only two top 10's, and was mired back in 16th in points, but still had a decent shot at making the Chase.

However, after a mediocre summer stretch and a last place finish at Watkins Glen, Burton found himself outside the top 20 in the standings. The year ended in an upswing, though, as Burton scored three finishes of 15th or better in the year's final 5 races. That wasn't a whole lot of consolation as Burton went yet another year without a victory, and ended up 18th in the season's final point standings.

The 2006 season has brought along some newfound confidence, especially after Burton put his orange Chevrolet on the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500. A 32nd-place finish was disappointing, but finishes of 5th in the second race at California and 7th in the third at Las Vegas helped vault Burton up to 10th in points.

After a stretch of bad races that concluded at Martinsville, Burton found himself yet again outside the top 20 in points, and left critics shaking their heads at the No. 31 team and Burton as a driver. Especially for someone who hasn't won a race since November 2001.

That was the last time Burton finished outside the top 15 in a race until this past Sunday at Michigan, where an engine failure that the South Boston, VA native said was his first in two and a half years at RCR. The DNF relegated Burton to a 42nd-place finish. It also dropped Burton from 4th to 9th in the standings, and into the danger zone of the Race to the Chase, which has just three races left.

This time last week many were looking at Burton as a sure championship contender, but after a second-to-last place finish, many are wondering if the engine failure will come back to hurt Burton and the team, especially with Bristol, not one of Burton's better tracks next on the schedule. As if that wasn't enough, the weekend after that is California, a track similar to Michigan, where Burton also had engine expire.

Whether Burton makes the Chase or not, the year should not be dubbed as a disappointment Heck, with the way the team's been running, they should definitely be in the Chase, and possibly a championship. Not bad for someone who hasn't won a race since November 2001 at Phoenix.

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The views and opinions in this article are that of the writer and not necessarily that of SCR

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