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© St. Petersburg Times, published July 2, 2002
Woe is Ward.
Less than five months have passed since Ward Burton won the season-opening Daytona 500, but to employees at Bill Davis Racing, it seems like an eternity.
"Winning the Daytona 500 is something that will always be a fond memory," said Burton, driver of the No.22 Dodge. "But everything that has happed to our race team since then has definitely not been positive. We're in a slump, and we've all lost confidence in each other."
Since winning NASCAR's premier event, Burton has one top-10 finish. A victim of several engine and mechanical failures, Burton is free-falling down the Winston Cup points standings.
After 16 races, he is 25th.
"We've just had a lot of problems mechanically, getting the cars to handle," said Burton, who has not finished better than 30th in the past six events. "You name it, and we've had it happen to us."
No race typifies Burton's beleaguered season more than the rain-delayed Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, where the native Virginian won the pole with a track-record speed and led a race-high 125 laps. He was running in the top five when the transmission blew on Lap 230.
He finished 30th, 36 laps down.
"We've broken seven times this year running in the top 12," crew chief Tommy Baldwin said.
In the days before the Daytona 500, Burton's outlook for 2002 was positive. The team had zero offseason turnover among key personnel and, for the first time in Burton's seven years with Davis, spent the winter building, not rebuilding.
Everything seemed in place.
How quickly things change.
Now, Burton's future is uncertain. According to Davis, Burton has been sitting on a renewal contract for more than two months. Burton said recently he has been too busy to sign the paperwork and that he would like to stay with Davis.
He also looks forward to the Winston Cup series' return to Daytona for Saturday night's Pepsi 400. The No.22 usually runs well at restrictor-plate events, and the team could use a boost.
"I know at any given moment I could be sitting in the car capable of doing it," said Burton, a four-time winner. "This problem is we're just inconsistent. If we can get to Daytona and stay out of trouble, hopefully we can start the season over again."
PLANNING AHEAD?: It could be coincidence, but Davis is moving his Busch Grand National team with driver Scott Wimmer to Winston Cup for seven races this season, starting with the July race at Chicago.
"I kind of hate leaving Busch," said Wimmer, who was third Sunday at Milwaukee. "We're really on a good streak here the last month or so. We've worked really hard to contend for wins and a championship. But we all want to run Winston Cup."
The team is underfunded and hopes not only to cash in on the bigger payouts in Winston Cup but get a headstart on attracting a primary sponsor for the future. Davis has two Winston Cup teams with drivers Burton and Hut Stricklin.
In addition to Chicago, Wimmer will attempt to qualify at Indianapolis, Bristol, Dover, Charlotte, Atlanta and Phoenix.
He will not lose his rookie status for next season.
BRUSHING UP: Several cars will have special paint schemes for Saturday's race, including patriotic themes on the machines of Jeff Gordon, Michael Waltrip and Ken Schrader. Others, including defending winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Petty and Rusty Wallace, will have special schemes related to sponsors.
PIT STOPS: BAM Motorsports, which fields the No.49 Dodge for Shawna Robinson, landed a one-race sponsorship deal with Dakota Imaging for the Pepsi 400. ... The 2002 BGN banquet will be Nov.22 in Orlando at the Portofino Bay Hotel. The event was held in California in recent years. ... The past three Indy Racing League events were won by three drivers by a combined 3.2819 seconds.
-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.