Pit strategy leads to top-10 finish for W. Burton

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The plan almost worked for the No. 22 Dodge.

	Ward Burton started 28th Sunday at Talladega. Credit: Autostock

Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton looked like he had a shot at another great finish Sunday at the EA SPORTS 500. If only it had been the EA SPORTS 475.

He came to the pits with seven laps to go, letting a potential top-five finish slip away.

"We had to stop," he said of his gas-only trip to pit road.

Over the course of the day, Burton's Dodge was one of the first cars to make pit stops. The strategy was to change two tires, take gas and then be ahead of the main pack when he re-entered the speedway.

The strategy worked.

Burton was able to then get in the outside line and within 20-25 laps, his car's handling would come on.

Burton moved from 29th to sixth between laps 10 and 20, and after the second set of pit stops, he climbed to third -- his best position of the day. With 20 laps to go, he was a solid fifth in the single-file line.

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The race was the team's first with Frank Stoddard as crew chief. The relationship between driver and crew chief clicked, and Burton called Stoddard's demeanor a major plus.

On a day where tight racing caused 43 headaches on the track, it was a blessing for Burton to have a calm, methodical voice in his ear over the radio.

"Nobody got excited," Burton said. "Everything worked like clockwork."

What didn't pan out was the gas situation. NASCAR mandated a 13-gallon fuel cell for this race, hopeful that additional pit stops would lead to smaller packs of cars rather than one big pack.

"We just didn't get it done on fuel mileage," car owner Bill Davis said. "That was our fault."

Burton didn't fail at working with his brother, Jeff. Twice during the race, Ward ran with Jeff's No. 99 Ford. But Jeff had the same fuel-mileage issue as his older sibling and finished right behind Ward in 11th place.

The results pleased Ward, who had a recent stretch where "we've been tearing things up." It was the tight racing for most of the day that wore on him mentally.

"We still need to fix racing," he said. "I know the fans get a great show, but [running] three abreast all day ... I don't care if you've got smaller fuel cells or smaller steering wheels, you're going to your [butt] sooner or later."