Burton goes to Las Vegas, and ideally so, on a roll

The talk about the fate of Jeff Burton's career began to seep into racing conversations early last season and it picked up serious steam during the summer. It was the kind of talk that affixes itself to all athletes whose fortunes waver around that arbitrary point where they start being labeled as "aging."

And in the fall, after Burton had missed the Chase for the first time since 2005, his first full season with Richard Childress Racing, even Burton's most loyal fans had to be wondering.

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It's just the way it goes.

Today, as the Sprint Cup teams prepare for Sunday's Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX), even Burton's most loyal fans have to be feeling a bit foolish because in conversations about his fate, he's being labeled a "championship contender."

The 2010 season is just two races old, but Burton is 2-for-2 in the impressive-starts column, looking fast enough to win at Daytona and again last weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Burton sits fifth in points this week, and adding to the titillation factor is the fact he is heading to Las Vegas, where he has been a consistent top-10 finisher.

Burton, who will turn 43 in June, took a deep breath this week when asked about his early season mood and then said, "I'm a lot more confident today than I was last year."

Ah, yes, last year.

Heading into Las Vegas in 2009, Burton had settled into a Russian winter. He finished 28th at Daytona and then 32nd at Auto Club. He was 31st in points and dang wary when he stepped off the airplane in Vegas.

"I was concerned going into last year because I knew we had worked hard, but we didn't finish the previous year off strong," Burton said. "We did a tire test in January [2009], and we were pretty far off on speed. I was really sick and not feeling good and I kept saying that I am still fast when I'm sick, so it's not that. Then, it showed itself pretty quickly that we weren't very good." (Continued)