Jeff Burton expects better things in his second year with Richard Childress. Credit: Autostock

Burton looks to break four-year winless string

RCR overhaul has veteran believing the No. 31 team can contend

Jeff Burton's first year with Richard Childress Racing was identical to his last with Roush Racing: zero wins, 18th in points.

While Carl Edwards steered Burton's former ride, the No. 99 Ford, into the Chase and a third-place ranking, Burton struggled to get a handle on his No. 31 Chevrolet.

	Jeff Burton's best finish in 2005 was a second-place run at Bristol in August. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Jeff Burton in 2005 Wins 0 Top-5s 3 Top-10s 6 DNFs 3 Poles 2 Laps Led 7 Avg. Start 26.0 Avg. Finish 19.6 Earnings $4,202,131 SUPERSTORE •   Get Jeff Burton gear! ALSO •   Burton pleased with testing •   Smack: Can Burton contend?

Burton had one more top-five (three) than the previous season and the same number of top-10s (six), but he went winless for the fourth consecutive year. Still, Burton contends, given the circumstances he personally was just as good as when he was winning 15 races from 1997-2000 and finishing in the top five in points each year."

"I knew that I was stepping into something than needed a lot of work, needed a lot of attention," Burton said of his first season with RCR. "As stupid as this sounds, I think I did my best job driving that I've ever done. I thought I got eveything I could get out of most races."

After an offseason housecleaning, Burton now feels like RCR is getting up to speed with the other top teams in NASCAR, and he expects those changes to have a positive effect on the track.

"I think we come into this year with much better engines, we come into this year with much better cars, we come into the year with much better engineering support," Burton said. "I honestly believe that you will see an increase in performance on the racetrack."

Burton admits today's NASCAR is much different from how it was just a few years ago, and he has struggled to make certain adjustments. Always a hands-on driver, Burton is learning he needs to step back and let the crew chief take charge.

"My personality is such that I don't want to leave for chance that something was done right. I want to be in there helping make sure it's done right," Burton said. "When I had my success, I was an integral part of what are we building, how we are building it ... how are we setting it up?

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"I happen to think that a 17-race winner didn't forget how to win, but maybe the way he was winning doesn't work anymore," said Burton, whose last two victories came in 2001, the last year he finished in the top 10 in points. "And when I say that, from a driving standpoint, a 17-race winner can still get it done. But from a how do you prepare to go to the racetrack [point of view], maybe he can't.

"I just don't think that the driver can run the team anymore. I think he needs to be able to concentrate on driving."

Which is why Burton is happy to have Scott Miller as his crew chief.

"He is an engineer-minded guy that's going to ... he just takes control," Burton said. "He talks to me about it, but he just takes control and says, 'This is how we're going to do it, this is why we're going to do it,' and he wants me involved but doesn't want me there every minute of the day. It's a better fit with what it takes to be successful today."

Yet Burton knows it still comes down the machine, and that was where RCR was sorely lagging in '05.

"You've got to be a good driver to run well. But you have to have good equipment, too," he said. "And in an era where we have a lot of really good drivers, the equipment becomes more important. So the main thing you have to have is speed, and to go fast, you have to have good equipment.

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"The way we went into '05 was not acceptable with the amount of R & D work done in our engine department, the amount of R & D done on the cars, chassis, bodies, and the aero program was lagging behind. That really opened my eyes, and when I went into '05, I knew if we ran well, it was more because we were lucky than that we had put a good plan together."

Burton has been pleased with the overhaul taking place at RCR and thinks his team can compete for a spot in the Chase.

"We have addressed every single part of what makes the cars go fast, with people, with hardware, with engineering, with a lot of things," Burton said. "I can tell you that my cars and Childress cars in general are a hell of a lot better than they were last year.

"Part of that is a new nose and a new tail and a new hood, but the majority of that is the fact that we realized that what we had was not near good enough, and we set out for the last six months to do it better."

Which is why 2006 is an important year for RCR.

"Last year we were rebuilding, this year we have to perform," Burton said. "You cannot continually have to be rebuilding, rebuilding ... It's time to get it done."