Around the Track ... Pocono Raceway

LONG POND, Pa. -- Pocono Raceway hosts the Nextel Cup Series twice in a month's time each summer.

In his latest edition of Cingular's "Around the Track," Jeff Burton talks about Nextel Cup's second visit to Pocono, for Sunday afternoon's Pennsylvania 500.

Jeff Burton: Pocono's unique trioval has three different lengths of straightaways, including the longest in Cup racing and three different degrees of banking in its three turns.

	JEFF BURTON •   Driver Page •   2005 Statistics •   Superstore: Burton gear! COKE TRACK ACCESS Interactive race highlights and instant win game

The proximity of the two dates to each other means teams have a reasonable idea of what to expect when the return to Pennsylvania later in the summer.

Some teams had some issues with their Goodyear tires when we were at Pocono last month, but our Cingular Wireless Chevrolet didn't have any tire issues.

We were pretty conservative on our left side tires. This time, we may think about getting a little bit more aggressive because we saw no sign of any tire problems.

Goodyear seemed to think that running over the curb in the Tunnel Turn was a problem and I think NASCAR and the racetrack have come in and made it where you can't do that any more, based on the changes they've made to the racetrack.

So I hope we don't have any (tire) problems and we probably won't.

I think that people learn their lessons in this sport pretty well and I think you'll see people that are much more conservative on their set-ups on the left front.

You're not necessarily looking over your shoulder when someone has a problem -- to see what they're doing that you don't need to be doing.

Pennsylvania 500 •   Entry List •   Track Page

When you have right front tire problems, you're pretty sure why that is. We know that camber angle and air pressure are really important on the right front, so you can be conservative when you know there's a potential problem.

The left front problem at Pocono I think jumped up on everybody. Nobody knew we were going to have a problem, and I think in that case everybody was watching.

Because we hardly ever have problems with the left front tires, I think it baffled everyone and confused everyone on what was going on.

	Inside the Numbers Jeff Burton at Pocono Year Start Finish 2005 22 19 2004 39 24   23 34 2003 16 14   19 6 2002 11 6   33 16 2001 8 10   18 36 2000 8 7   8 2 1999 8 36   18 36 1998 28 4   19 3 1997 18 2   20 3 1996 16 9   9 35 1995 37 36   23 27 1994 35 22   4 4 Average 19.1 17.0

So yeah, in that case we were watching and paying attention but at the same time we didn't really know what was causing the problem or how to prevent it, so those things are difficult to deal with, sometimes.

I know they've re-patched the racetrack and did some grinding on the curbs, but it won't take us long to pick up on what they've done and adjust to it.

They patched the racetrack the last time, but I swear to God they missed the spot they needed to fix. They patched it in the wrong place.

There was a huge bump -- a hole in the racetrack -- and they patched it on the other side of the hole. They didn't even fix the problem, so hopefully this time they got it fixed.

I mean, there was a really deep hole in the racetrack and hopefully they got it fixed.

But whatever they've done, we'll just drive down in there and see what it is. It won't have less grip, and that's the biggest thing, right there.

When you put down new asphalt, it makes it easier for the drivers. So you'll have to learn what you can do on the new asphalt versus what you couldn't do on the old asphalt.

But at any rate, it won't make it harder -- it'll make it easier.

Once again, the track didn't bother to come to the drivers as a resource on what they might do to fix their track.

But in the racetrack's defense, you know I think that if you did talk to five drivers you would get varying opinions.

I think the racetracks would be best served if they would take five drivers in the garage that were respected, that were well rounded and that think things through.

Then, they actually asked them to be a part of a group that could sit down with the racetrack owners and say, "OK, what could we do to make the racetrack better? Do we have any problems or any issues?"

Let the drivers who know the tracks the best, decide.

FedEx PreviewNBC/TNT's Marty Snider previews the action at Pocono Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

I mean we know the track better than anybody else. We know it better than the architect, we know it better than the grader, and we know it better than the owner.

They know the grandstands and they know the access roads and they know where the restrooms are -- but they don't know the racetrack, and we could help them.

Like in the case of Pocono, you know? For years they've known that they've got to get rid of all that grass on the back straightaway.

I mean they've got to do it because it continually is a problem. People get in that grass and they hit that inside wall and there's no sense in it.

Around the TrackJeff Burton talks about Nextel Cup's return trip to Pocono Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

That could be fixed -- that should have been fixed 10 years ago, and it still hasn't been fixed. In cases like that it's like every driver knows that it would make it better, but for some reason it doesn't happen there.

And that's when it gets frustrating: When you know that something like that could simply be done to make the track better, and the drivers know it. But for some reason a track owner won't make that change.

And that's a frustrating thing.

In the case of whether the tracks need to be paved, or those kinds of things -- or problems with the tracks -- I think the drivers know a whole lot more than Humpy (Wheeler, of Lowe's Motor Speedway) does.

When Humpy went and wanted to grind the racetrack, all the drivers were like, "Why? This is one of the best racetracks we've got, so why do that?"

He was trying to make side-by-side racing (laughing), but if people would consult with the people that do it, every day, and that are on the track all the time I think that they could get the answers a whole lot quicker.

Dave Blaney (left) with Burton Credit: Autostock

We race at Pocono twice within a month, and you'd like to think you could go right back and be better the next time after we've been there in June.

But what we do is continually build on what we're doing, so when we go to Richmond we learn, and when we go to the next short track we try to apply what we've learned.

So the closer the races are together, as they are at Pocono, the fresher you have it in your mind. So the more you can say at Pocono, "This is exactly what we had the last time so this is exactly what we need to fix," and it's much more fresh.

When you go to Atlanta for the second time (from March to November), it's like a whole season in between the two races. It's not as fresh on your mind as Pocono, so it does make it a little easier to get better at Pocono the second time.

But you can go there and run better, but everyone else runs better, too. That's the thing about Pocono -- it's fresh on everybody's mind when you go back there.

There's no doubt the same concept applies to race set-up, too.

Because it's an impound race, very little focus is put on qualifying for the people who are in the top-35 in points. We know that, for us in qualifying, we were way too loose.

And we know we need to make changes based on that. So in the race, we were the same way, so we feel like we can make a change that will help us for both qualifying and the race.

This is the point where we're seven races away from the cutoff to the Chase for the Nextel Cup, but the Chase is on our mind starting at the Daytona 500.

What we do is we try to win championships and contend for championships -- to put ourselves in position to win them. So the Chase is on your mind from the first day, and I think it takes that kind of focus.

Every time I've been in the championship hunt I've had the championship on my mind (all season). I think you have to be focused on the championship and aware of the situation that you're in, in order to get yourself in that position.

And I think that that's every day.

As far as being concerned at any point in the season, about whether or not we've won a race yet, well that starts at the Daytona 500, too.

You win races by continually putting yourself in position. Every now and then and every year, we have a winner that runs 15th to 20th in the all the races, and then he wins a race.

But the way you typically win races is that you put yourself in position. And I don't go into any race thinking, "Are we going to win?" or "Are we not going to win?"

I go into every race thinking about what we're going to do to position ourselves to where we can win.

It's been a while since I've won and I'm wigged out about that every day, but I'm pretty calm about it.

I know that being flipped out about us not winning won't make us win. We've got to have a methodology and we've got to have a process that allows us to be in position to win.

And that's what we're trying to do.