Because of new car, Burton says Chase is 'anybody's ballgame'
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Friday, July 04, 2008
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton is second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, just 64 behind points leader Kyle Busch. Yet he still views racing NASCAR's new car as a learning experience.
Burton has already won a race this season and has a worst finish of 15th for the year, easily making him the series most consistent performer in the opening 17 races. Still, Burton views handling this new car as a learning experience and points out there are some tracks where the car has yet to even be raced yet.
He also says that it's clear teams are still trying to get a handle on it when one looks over the overall performance of most.
Asked how confident he was in the car, Burton responded, "Not very," then further explained his response.
"I think it's clear that the [car-of-tomorrow] thing is difficult and we'll see teams that run really, really well one week, then run very poorly the next," he said Friday at Daytona International Speedway, site of this weekend's Coke Zero 400. "I think we're still in a learning phase, a lot of learning. So every week's kind of an adventure. So I wouldn't say real confident at all."
Still, Burton seems to have a pretty fair handle on the model. He's obviously been fairly consistent in it. But, with only one win, Burton will lose ground when the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set. At that time, NASCAR will award 10 bonus points per win, essentially seeding the top 12 drivers.
At this point, Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch has five wins, Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards has three and Kasey Kahne has two. That would vault Edwards and Kahne past Burton, unless he wins more.
He's not disappointed he doesn't have more victories, but he does expect to be in contention for more as the season wears on.
"My theory about racing is, if you keep putting yourself in position to win races, then you'll win 'em," he said. "Our goal is to keep putting ourselves in position. I think that we've executed when we've had opportunities. I feel like we've gotten a lot out of our year so far. But I'm not disappointed at all that we have one win and somebody else has four. I think we can get more wins. If I didn't think we could get more wins, I'd be disappointed."
Regardless of whether that happens or not, and perhaps in spite of those bonus points, Burton says that once the Chase begins then the championship is anyone's game.
"I don't think there's any question about it," he said. "I think maybe more so this year than ever. With the car of tomorrow going to so many race tracks we've never been to with it, I think a team can get hot and really be good. You know, the way you ran in May isn't necessarily going to be indicative of how you run in November.
"So I think it's anybody's ballgame. Whoever gets in the Chase will have an honest shot."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jeff Burton
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