Years later, Burton still that same affable guy (cont'd)

Burton has made 460 starts in the Cup Series. He has 19 wins. He went four full seasons without a win, 2002-2005. He posted one victory in 2006.

"What we're doing right now is building on last year. We came into last year feeling good about ourselves, thinking we had made some really good moves in the offseason. We were able to capitalize on that last year, run well, win a race, lead a lot of laps and stuff but we didn't capitalize on that as much as we could have," Burton said.

"This year, we approached it as trying to capitalize on the opportunities ahead of us. We haven't done as well in some areas that we need to do; we need to find a way to be a little bit quicker, a little bit faster. I've got to find a way to get a little more lap time out of the car. But we are a team currently that can have a bad day and make something decent happen out of it."

That's good to know, because not many decent things have happened for Jeff Burton in recent races at Watkins Glen. He was 11th last year, 43rd the year before, 12th in 2004 and 31st in 2003. In his 13 starts there he has three top-10 finishes and they all came in consecutive races: third in 2000 followed by a second and a seventh. This season he has six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in the 21 races.

"This is going to sound stupid," Burton said, "but I don't look at the year as a year. I look at the year as 36 races and I judge how we're doing on the week that were doing it. We're fourth in points, we've won a race, but I'm not looking at it as a successful year, I'm looking at it as we didn't run as well last week as we needed to; what do we need to do to be better? When the year is over we'll step back and look a the year."

Burton likes to think his way through a race. If this were the tortoise and the hare thing, Burton probably wouldn't mind being the hare, because he knows he can outthink the tortoise.

"I try not change the way I drive," he said.

"I try to be consistent in how I race. I think when you start changing who you are, that's a mistake. Now, from time to time in certain situations you might have to change, but I approach Indy the same way I approached California the beginning of the year; that was let's go there, try to find a way to win. If we can't win then let's finish second, if we can't finish second let's finish third. But let's don't take a third and make it a 10th. I pretty much try to race like that all the time."

And Jeff isn't the only member of the Burton household that races that way. Kim says their son, Harrison, has that same style when he's on the track.

Harrison is 6 and into quarter midgets, his sister, Paige, is 12 and into horses.

"We have a lot of stuff moving," Jeff said.

"I enjoy the experiences of my children and I like to think I'm learning [from them] and I can help my children learn. I really enjoy watching them do things that makes them better people," Burton said, with a laugh.

"And that doesn't just mean things that they did well. There are times in life when there was a lesson that they learned and they can move forward from it.

"I do enjoy the opportunity to have somebody that whether they want to or not, they have to listen to me, or make them wish they had. Being a parent makes me look back at what my parents did with me with a much greater understanding and much greater appreciation.

"When I'm 70 and my kids are talking about what I did for them, I want them to understand I didn't do it all right, but I was trying to."

When it comes to the youngest Burton on the track, mom and dad are a tag team.

"From a stress management standpoint I think it [the racing] drives Kim more crazy. I'm into the, 'What do we need to do to make the car go faster? What do we need to do to make Harrison drive better?' I'm into that. She's into making sure I don't do that too much."

When you talk to Burton about his kids you can measure the enjoyment by the size of his smile, even if those aren't the most economically friendly hobbies for your kids.

"It isn't cheap being into quarter midgets and horses, I can assure you," he said with another laugh.

"But, we're lucky enough that we can do those things for our children. I'm also lucky enough to understand because of what my parents did for me, that they need to appreciate what they're able to do because not everybody is able to that. My children are blessed from that standpoint but I want them to appreciate it. The things they have they can lose really quickly and that's really clear to them."

That's kind of how racing goes, too. You're winning, you're successful and all of a sudden the success leaves and you're not winning anymore. Jeff Burton knows there were people who said his career was over, that television, not Victory Lane, was in his future. They were wrong.

Burton is on the way to the Chase for the second consecutive season, and you can bet he appreciates that.

"I've always wanted to race," he said.

"I'm 40 and doing it, and I can't complain."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.