Burton eyes new beginning

Pepsi 400 winner says consistency through the rest of the season could bring a Winston Cup points title.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 3, 2000

DAYTONA BEACH -- Jeff Burton sees no reason he can't win the Winston Cup championship this season.

Fifth in the standings after 17 races, he hopes Saturday's win in the Pepsi 400 will mark the start of more consistency in the season's second half.

"This race is really big for our team," said Burton, who at 33 became the oldest driver to win a race since Mark Martin in April. "We needed a kick in the pants and we got it."

Burton's victory marked his eighth in the past 51 Winston Cup points races dating to February 1999. Only Jeff Gordon has more (nine) during that span.

Winning races alone, however, is no assurance a driver will contend for a championship, especially when the points system rewards consistently good finishes.

And consistency has limited Burton's run at a first title.

He finished out of the top 10 in 12 of 34 races last season and wound up fifth in the standings despite six wins. In the six races leading up to the Pepsi 400, he finished 11th or worse four times.

"We put every bit of effort we know how to put into winning the championship," said Burton, who trails leader Bobby Labonte by 213 points. "The best way we know to do that is to win as many races as possible. We have not done a good job this year and we haven't been as reliable as we need to be at times and we haven't been as competitive as we need to be at times."

Burton was consistent and competitive Saturday.

He started ninth and hovered in the top 10 for nearly all of the 160 laps.

A two-tire pit stop 55 laps from the finish helped Burton take the lead on Lap 121. He remained out front when a two-car wreck brought out a caution six laps from the conclusion.

Dale Jarrett and Dale Earnhardt -- masters at the tracks (Daytona, Talladega) where NASCAR requires use of the horsepower-limiting restrictor plates -- trailed Burton when the green flag waved with four laps to go.

Burton, who led twice for 42 laps, successfully blocked Jarrett in the closing laps and beat the No. 88 Ford to the finish line by .149 seconds.

Not only was it Burton's second win of the season, 13th of his career and first at the track, it was the first for team owner Jack Roush at Daytona.

"It's clear to me that we didn't have the best car (Saturday)," Roush said. "If we would've been back in the field ... we probably wouldn't have had ability to come to the front. But Jeff wouldn't give it up."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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