Jeff Burton News

There's a new leader in NASCAR's Chase for the championship, and a whole bunch of drivers who are very much back in contention. Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Bobby Labonte with 55 laps to go Sunday and held it through several restarts to win the crash-filled Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and 2003 champion Matt Kenseth jumped ahead in the points as the series heads to Atlanta with seven ...

Points leader Jeff Burton has finished outside the top seven just once in the first five races of the Chase for the championship. He'll bring a 45-point cushion over Matt Kenseth into Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, along with the fervent hope that things keep going his way. Previous Chase champions, he said, ``ran well but had a lot of fortune, too. From what I've seen, that means as much as anything. You can't make your own ...

Jeff Burton couldn't do anything right for five long seasons. Now he can't do anything wrong. Burton has overcome late-race problems the past two weeks to widen his lead in the Chase for the championship standings, leading his rivals to wonder openly if the Nextel Cup title is his to lose. ``You can't break him, he's just there every week doing a great job,'' Dale Earnhardt Jr. lamented. ``If he ...

Mark Martin is the most pessimistic driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage. Through a career that has seen many successes, including four runner-up finishes but no championships, Martin always has been quick to bemoan his fate and accept the downside of the sport. Last Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Martin was taken out by rookie J.J. Yeley, who suddenly darted from the middle of the track toward pit ...

Kasey Kahne did everything right, yet it did little to help his championship hopes. Kahne put on a dominating performance Saturday night to complete a season sweep at Lowe's Motor Speedway, passing track favourite Jimmie Johnson with 26 laps go then pulling away for the victory. But the win _ his series-leading sixth of the season _ hardly moved him in the Chase for the championship standings. He's eighth, 160 points out with five races to go ...

Even with his winless drought over, a spot on top of the points standings for the first time since 1999 secured, Jeff Burton's sleepless nights likely won't end. It wasn't the five-year victory dry spell that kept him up the night before a race anyway. It was worrying and wondering how his car would handle or how his team would perform that kept him from catching enough shuteye. ``I haven't ...

Jeff Burton nipped at leader Matt Kenseth's bumper in the waning laps, ducked beneath him, pulled side-by-side and still kept falling behind. It wasn't until six laps were left that Burton finally scooted by with the critical pass. Not that he even needed it: Kenseth ran out of gas, anyway. Burton finally found his way back to Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway after the thrilling late battle, ending his ...

Jeff Burton says the only hot air surrounding his team comes from false allegations of cheating, not the kind leaked by manipulated rims. Kevin Harvick was firmly focused on keeping his lead in the points standings, and not on possibly planted stories that would only serve to distract from his performance at Dover. But both Richard Childress Racing drivers vehemently denied on Friday a Speed TV report that claimed they ...

Jeff Burton was once the most promising driver in NASCAR, a hot shot groomed by Jack Roush, mentored by Mark Martin and destined for stardom. Then, after four dazzling seasons, it all went away. First, he stopped winning races. Then he lost his sponsor and his feel-good feeling with his team, switching to Richard Childress Racing for the 2005 season. But when the Nextel Cup series begins its Chase for ...

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,015 TEAM: Richard Childress Racing HOMETOWN: South Boston, Va. AGE: 39 CAR: No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet CREW CHIEF: Scott Miller BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 3rd (2000) OUTLOOK: Although he's winless this season, Burton is having a tremendous year after several miserable seasons. He's led a ton of laps, but late-race slips have prevented him from making it to Victory Lane. If Burton can put it all together, ...