| | | | | | THE WISE LEADER | Burton not getting too comfy on top of points standings | |
| | By SceneDaily Staff AVONDALE, AZ -- Jeff Burton is running strong and is on top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings heading into Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
But is he concerned that his Richard Childress Racing team might get too comfortable about its position with NASCAR's Chase for the Championship still five months away?
“I’m not worried about that. I think that everyone on our team understands we’ve been the team that took off and started the year really, really fast and then weren’t good when we needed to be,” said Burton, who took over the points lead from Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch two weekends ago at Martinsville Speedway with a third-place finish. “I think that it’s real clear to us that we’re going to have to continue as the year goes on so I’m not worried about that in the least.
"The biggest thing is, 'What do we do to get better?' That’s the biggest question. When you’re running well, it’s harder to make improvements and the right decisions and putting the effort in the right place. That’s going to be the hardest part.”
Finishing near the front has not been hard for Burton in recent weeks. His third-place finish at Martinsville backed up a win at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks earlier. Burton then followed up his Martinsville performance with a sixth-place outing last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Burton currently holds a 59-point bulge over RCR teammate Kevin Harvick in the series standings. But he knows there’s a lot of racing yet to be done before the final race of the Sprint Cup regular season at Richmond International Raceway in September.
Though falling out of the top 12 in the standings and thereby missing the chase seems unlikely, it could happen.
“I’m not worried about the thought process or the comfort level,” said Burton, who starts 39th at Phoenix. “This team’s mature and they’ve been around the block and I think that we’ll all answer that call just fine.”
Even though Burton leads the standings, he hasn’t been the most consistently fast car this season. That distinction goes to Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards, who has a series-high three wins in seven races, including last Sunday’s Samsung 500 at Texas.
' If nothing else, the success of Edwards and his team is enough to keep Burton from getting too comfortable.
“They’ve been incredible,” he said. “Honestly, I thought they had Atlanta won, too, and they had a problem. They’ve been the best car on the mile and- a-half and 2-mile racetracks and that’s saying a lot because we run a lot of mile-and-a half and 2-mile racetracks.
“… At times in those races they’ve been where nobody could run with them. They’ve been dominant and that’s hard to do at this level. I’ve been really impressed. Everybody has been.”
| | Posted April 12, 2008 , 4:14 pm EST
Last Updated April 12, 2008 , 4:14 pm EST | | | | | | | | | | |
