Hands-down, Mark Martin is the champion of the "sympathy vote" when it comes to the guy who everyone hopes wins a Sprint Cup championship.

And why not, considering the guy has been the epitome of grit, competitive fire and guts -- while at the same time carrying himself with an element of class that never goes out of style.

“

I'm looking for someone who's willing to stand up to me and put pressure on me to do better than I've been doing. ... I know Todd will.

”

JEFF BURTON

But think about this, if you will. Just how cool would it be if Richard Childress Racing's newly minted pairing of veteran driver Jeff Burton and veteran crew chief Todd Berrier -- with a hand-picked assembly of crewmen to boot -- could win a title in the next season or two?

Make no mistake about it, even before this season of horrors began at RCR -- a season in which, uncharacteristically none of Childress' teams have won, and none of the four really came close to making the Chase -- the two men were thinking about it.

It's been said that desperate men do desperate things, but this move could be the ultimate in calculation.

"Whenever I think of Jeff Burton, I think of a serious competitor, and now a serious teammate, absolutely," Berrier said at Martinsville, in anticipation of the pair's first race together, this past weekend at Talladega. "The whole time he's been at our place, him and I have talked a lot, we're friends and we've worked beside each other, even though we haven't ever worked with each other.

"I hold him up pretty high because he does a lot, he don't give up, he goes pretty hard and he's really into it. He wants to go out there and win the championship -- to go out on top of this thing and so do I. I don't want to go away not doing that, so I think it'll be a really good fit and him and I will work well together."

If Talladega was any indication, they could be on the right track, as Burton led laps and finished fifth.

Sometimes, luck means everything at Talladega, but according to Berrier, Burton hasn't depended on that too much through his successful stock-car career, which spans 21 victories in Cup and 27 in the Busch/Nationwide Series.

"He's smart," Berrier said. "He does think a lot and if he's looking for something I think he can pretty well explain it, and it'll be up to us to give it to him or find it with this new car. And if it's not then we'll tweak on it. Sometimes too much information is better than none. You don't ever know, so I think he's shown he can do the deal and I think it's going to be good."

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Talladega proved that, as Burton and Berrier's top-five finish was only the second this season for Burton, and his first in 23 races. Burton's take on what the pair needs to do to reach that next level is fascinating, but proves the veteran's commitment.

"We both have a lot of respect for each other," Burton said. "We've got to go work hard, and we've got to work smart, and if we do those things, I think we can be very successful. It's important for us not to take these next [three] races and think, 'Well, this is how it's going to be, whether we win races or run dead last.' What's important is for us to always continue working to be better and to be honest with each other."

Burton said that could be Berrier's strongest suit in a career that includes a Busch Series championship and Daytona 500 win with RCR teammate Kevin Harvick, who was separated from Berrier earlier this season in one of several crew changes.

Burton said his age and his career stats, which include top-10 point finishes in half of his 17 years in Cup, meant nothing for this weekend at Texas, next February at Daytona or any other time in their unfolding union.

"It's one of the things that I'm really excited about working with him, is that I know he'll tell me exactly how he feels -- and I like that," Burton said. "I'm 42 years old and I think a lot of people are afraid to tell me something because I'm 42 years old -- you know, 'he's been doing this a long time and I can't tell him anything.'

"But I know Todd will. If I didn't feel like I had more to learn, I would have quit, and part of the reason I do this is the opportunity to learn and to grow because I have a lot of room to grow. But to do it, I have to learn what I have to do better, and I know Todd's the kind of guy that will be pushing me to do things -- and I'll be pushing him to do things better.

"So I'm looking for someone who's willing to stand up to me and put pressure on me to do better than I've been doing. It's hard to tell a guy that's won some races and is 42 years old he needs to be doing something differently, but that's what I'm looking for and I know he will."

Only time will tell if it results in a championship contender, but having a front-running Burton will be nothing but a treasure for both the fans and media alike.

Shut up and drive?

I know Texas Motor Speedway got in trouble, and rightfully so, for saying that about a previous version of TMS, which was frankly kinda raggedy. But Kurt Busch is among those who think it's the solution for what many fans considered "questionable" racing this past weekend at Talladega even though most competitors polled felt like it was business as usual in the restrictor-plate era.

What they need to do, in a nutshell, is make the cars un-drivable. That way, the better drivers would be able to drive 'em, and they'd drive away from the not-so-good drivers. You'd like to think, since these are the highly proclaimed best drivers in the world, that they wouldn't drive over their heads, so they wouldn't wreck trying to out-drive their skills.

How to do that, exactly, wouldn't be the easiest assignment either, whether it's reducing aerodynamic downforce, narrowing the tires or whatever. And then again, they seem to do a pretty good job of wrecking while they're under control now -- so maybe that ain't the greatest idea. But I think it would be worth a try.

Of course, a lot of these spoiled-brat drivers might be none too happy -- but that's why they get the big bucks, right?

Kyle Busch Victory Watch

Finally, another Kyle Busch victory -- and sorry for my less than average math skills last week because when I said he had to win six of his 12 remaining races to eclipse his 2008 record total of 21 wins (8 Cup, 10 Nationwide, 3 Truck), I was actually off by one race, because he only had 11 left.

But win he did at Talladega in the Camping World Truck Series, so now Busch is at 17 wins: 4 Cup, 7 Nationwide, 6 Truck. He comes to Texas for the first of three consecutive triple plays, and if you ask me, winning two of three the next couple of weeks is definitely possible.

As I said last week, Busch's hopes of doing it lie mostly in the Nationwide and Truck series. But Texas will provide a good view of how his new Cup crew chief, Dave Rogers, is gonna come out of the box. At this point last year Busch was at 20: 8 Cup, 9 Nationwide, 3 Truck; but he won at Texas in the Nationwide car.

So he's at least got to do that to keep it within reach. But with what he showed in both Talladega events, it's still very possible.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the participant.