Jeff Burton posted six top-10 finishes, including two fourth-place showings. Credit: Autostock

In Review: J. Burton

Veteran driver contends move to RCR has a lot of upside

This is the third of our driver reviews for 2004. This month, NASCAR.COM will review the top 20 drivers.

Tuesday: Greg Biffle.

On paper, 2004 looks like the worst season of Jeff Burton's career.

The numbers show two top-five and six top-10 finishes and a continuation of a three-year losing streak. The finish categories are his lowest totals since 1995, his last before moving to Roush Racing.

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However, you have to carve the 2004 season into two parts for Burton: pre-Richard Childress Racing and Richard Childress Racing. Burton joined RCR to drive the No. 30 car in August, so what he did before then doesn't much matter -- at least not to Burton.

His future is with RCR, so what he did for Roush is truly history.

So take a deeper look at Burton's season. In the 14 races with RCR, he had one top-five and three top-10s. In the 11 other races, he finished 15th or better eight times.

Not bad, but not great.

But compared to the three other drivers of the No. 30, Burton looks like the Burton of old, like the driver who finished fifth or better in the points standings for four consecutive seasons for Roush, winning 15 times over that span.

Jeff Burton was 13th in points over the second half of the year. Credit: Autostock

Johnny Sauter started the year in the car, with the intent of competing for Raybestos Rookie of the Year. But after 13 races with an average finish of 23.4, Sauter was gone.

Enter veteran Dave Blaney. Eight races. Fifteenth twice. Average finish of 25.1. Exit Blaney.

Road racer Jim Inglebright got one turn in the car, and he finished 19th at Infineon Raceway.

Clearly, Burton had the most success in the No. 30, making Childress look pretty smart. Burton gave up a career of eight-plus seasons with Roush Racing to join RCR, but that appears to be a good career move.

"The reason I agreed to leave Roush rather than finishing the year out was that I thought it was in my best interest to join the AOL team and spend some time together," Burton said. "I'm ecstatic I did because there are a lot of issues I'm able to work on now, that if I weren't here we wouldn't be working on. I think we'll be better 10 races from now and next year because we've had this time together."

In the No. 99 Ford, Burton and the team worried about whether Roush would shut them down for a lack of sponsorship. That couldn't help performance, and two blown engines to start the season stunted Burton's momentum.

Burton didn't have a top-10 until Talladega, the season's seventh race, and didn't have a top-five until the 13th. He was mired in 25th in the points after a crash at Pocono in August.

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Then came the move to RCR.

His tenure started with a 12th at Michigan, and more decent runs continued. He was 15th at California, 15th at New Hampshire, 13th at Talladega, 15th at Kansas, ninth at Charlotte, 11th at Martinsville and sixth at Dover to move to 16th in the points.

A crash at Homestead dropped Burton back to 18th in the final standings, but the improvement was obvious. He was 13th in points over the second half of the season.

"I think we are close right now," Burton said. "We are right on the verge. I think right now we are about a 12th-place team, somewhere between eight and 14th, so I will say 12th. We're narrowing in on it. There is a lot of upside. I want to believe we aren't as good as we will be in the future.

"If we aren't better in the future, then shame on us because we have a tremendous amount of time to spend together and grow as a team and reap the benefits from that."

VIDEO Hard hit Jeff Burton's car catches on fire at Dover.

For 2005, Burton and crew chief Kevin Hamlin switch numbers, taking over the No. 31 program with sponsor Cingular. The goal is continue to get better, move forward and eventually end Burton's losing streak, which has reached 112 races.

"We want to continue to improve," Burton said. "We know we have some room to grow as a team. We know we haven't been as good as some other teams, like the 48. We know we have some ground to make up on those top caliber teams and that's the kind of team we want to be.

"But at the same time, I think I have a crew chief and a team that is capable for contending for wins and I feel like I am a driver that is capable of contending for wins. Now we have to put it all together to consistently run up front and go out and contend for the wins."