J. Burton optimistic despite uncertain future

Burton: 'This is the hardest time of my Cup career'

FORT WORTH, Texas -- When Jeff Burton won at Texas in 1997, he was about to enter the prime of a career that saw him win 17 races in NASCAR's top division.

It's been well-documented that Burton's 2004 season has been marked by lack of sponsorship -- and good runs.

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His last top-five finish came 16 races ago. Burton used to rack up a top-five finish every other week.

Burton acknowledges that times are tough, but he says he will fight through it.

"I have done this a long time and I believe in myself," said Burton, who sits 30th in Nextel Cup points. "I also believe that this is a tough sport. I've had it good for a long time, and right now, it's hard for me."

"This is the hardest time of my Cup career."

Burton started the season with back-to-back engine failures at Daytona and Rockingham. That put the team into an immediate hole, and they haven't recovered yet.

Crew chief Paul Andrews was let go March 17, and untested crew chief Bob Osborne took over.

Progress has been slow -- Burton failed to finish at Bristol -- but on Friday at Texas, he qualified 23rd. Not great, but not bad for Burton, who's never been a great qualifier on superspeedways.

"We were probably a little too conservative, but that was the right thing for us to do," Burton said. "That's not great, but compared to how we've been qualifying at places like this, that is a pickup for us."

Burton's all-white No. 99 Ford is an anomaly in for Roush Racing, who has been unable to find a full-time sponsor after Citgo bailed at the end of 2003.

Burton says he can get through the tough times.

"I've been through times when it was tough. I haven't had a golden paved road to this type of racing," said Burton, who came up through the rough-and-tumble short tracks in Virginia. "I am not a stranger to tough times. I am pretty tough.

"I am not burying my head in the sand saying we don't have issues, because we do, it'll be OK."

Despite overwhelming odds -- teams need upwards of $250,000 per event just to survive -- Burton says that he will keep showing up every Sunday.

"We're going to run the whole year," said Burton. "We're going to find a way to run the whole year.

"I'll be honest. It makes me nervous, but I can't spend a lot of time thinking about it. We need to be thinking about how to make our race team better."