Despite win, do not bank on Burton

Oct 13, 2008 - 3:31 PM By Scott Serrano PA SportsTicker Auto Racing Editor

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Jeff Burton thrust himself squarely into title contention with his victory Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

With that win, Burton jumped to second in the "Chase for the Championship" standings and trails leader Jimmie Johnson by only 69 points.

But in order to catch and pass the two-time reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, Burton is going to have to keep winning races.

Unfortunately for him, history dictates that isn't going to happen.

Burton is known more for his consistency rather than reaching Victory Lane. He opened the Chase by running fourth at New Hampshire, ninth at Dover, seventh at Kansas and fourth at Talladega.

But no victories.

Burton also started the season strong, running in the top 15 through the first 17 races.

But his lone win during that stretch came at the first Bristol race. Going back a year, Burton's only win of the 2007 season came in April at Texas.

In fact, this will be the first season since 2001 that Burton has won more than just one race.

See a pattern here? Burton may run strong, but he rarely wins.

And when it comes to the Chase, you actually need to win some races in order to win the title.

Don't bank Burton and his team suddenly flipping the switch and winning races with five to go. The No. 31 Chevrolet led a mere 82 laps through the first 30 races of 2008.

"It's a long way to go, and a lot of stuff can happen," Burton said. "Everyone wants to hand the trophy to someone every week, but it's way too early. Our job is to put ourselves in position to go to Homestead with a chance.

"All those other guys have a tremendous amount to lose. We've got nothing to lose. Nobody gives us a chance, except for us."

Count me in the group that doesn't give Burton a chance.

EDWARDS RUMBLES, TUMBLES: I bet you had a better seven-day stretch than Carl Edwards.

Edwards' week began by touching off the "big one" at Talladega, erupted into a widely publicized physical confrontation with Kevin Harvick on Thursday and ended with him running 33rd at Lowe's, falling from second to fourth in the Chase at its midpoint.

He now sits 168 points leader Jimmie Johnson - all but out of title contention.

"I can guarantee you that if I had the week to do over again, the last seven days would be a lot different," Edwards said. "It seems the more I do or say this week, the worse off I am, so I just wanted to get to the end of the race and go do some testing and go race at Martinsville.

"I've never been so excited to race at Martinsville in my life."

And that's saying something, considering Edwards has one career top-10 in eight races at Martinsville. He's never led a lap there and has an average finish of 22nd.

Still, this upcoming week can't possibly be as bad for Edwards ... can it?

ALONSO SUDDENLY CAN'T LOSE: Fernando Alonso struggled early in the Formula One season after leaving McLaren and returning to Renault.

But lately, he's been unbeatable.

The silky smooth Spaniard raced to victory in the Japan Grand Prix on Sunday, his second in a row for Renault and 21st overall. He took the Singapore Grand Prix on September 28.

"It's difficult to believe. Today, we had nothing, but we won again," Alonso said. "I cannot believe it. Back-to-back wins is a very nice feeling."

Even so, Alonso's winning streak only moved him up to seventh in the standings.

Alonso's former teammate and series leader Lewis Hamilton has a six-point lead over Felipe Massa with two races remaining in the season.

EARNHARDT JR. VS. KYLE BUSCH: Dale Earnhardt Jr. basically replaced Kyle Busch at Hendrick Motorsports. Busch thoroughly dominated the head-to-head matchup through the first 26 races, winning eight times to Earnhardt's one.

Here is how the two are faring during the Chase:

Earnhardt ran 36th at Lowe's and remains 10th in the Chase standings, 354 points out of the lead.

Busch finished fourth at Lowe's for his best Chase showing this season. Entered the Chase with an 80-point lead atop the standings, but left Concord in ninth place and 326 points out of the lead.

Edge through fifth Chase race: Equally bad and irrelevant.

SAY WHAT? "I look up at the result board and look at ourselves 30th and want to cry to be honest with you." - Robby Gordon.

GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FINISH: Kasey Kahne almost pulled off the Lowe's trifecta, winning the Coca-Cola 600, the Sprint All-Star race and taking second Saturday night in the Bank of America 500. ... Clint Bowyer finished fourth at Lowe's on Friday and still leads in the Nationwide Series standings by 196 points over Carl Edwards with four races remaining. ... The second half of the Chase kicks off at Martinsville, where Jimmie Johnson has four wins and nine top-fives. Another solid run by Johnson on the paperclip-shaped track and this Chase thing is over.

Feedback? E-mail scott.serrano@pa-sportsticker.com.