Jeff Burton, driver of the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, waits on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 12, 2013
Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images
After two disappointing seasons and a slow start to the 2013 Sprint Cup season, veteran driver Jeff Burton is showing he can still compete at a high level. In a weekend that started out with news that Burton will compete for Richard Childress Racing once again in 2014 in the Sprint Cup Series, ending speculation that he’d be replaced, the 31 team put together easily its best performance of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Luke Lambert led team spent the majority of the race inside the top-ten with, at many times, the fastest car on track, and worked their way into the top-five where Burton would remain to score a third place finish. The finish was big because it was the first top-three finish at a non-restrictor plate event since 2010. However, the performance shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as the Burton-Lambert pairing has been successful in the past.
Going back to 2011, RCR opted to replace veteran crew chief Todd Berrier with the young engineer Lambert for the seasons’ last 17 races, a span that included five top-tens. Of those top-tens, Burton scored four of them in the seasons’ final five races and the team was able to work their way to 20th place in the final season standings. Despite the strong end to what had been a disappointing 2011 season, it was decided, that given the limited experience as a crew chief, Lambert would spend 2012 working as a Nationwide Series crew chief. In that move, Lambert worked with veteran Elliot Sadler on RCR’s No. 2 Nationwide team. The pair went on to win several races enroute to a runner-up finish in the point standings, and giving Lambert valuable experience working as a crew chief. Things were different for Burton.
With Lambert moving to the Nationwide Series for 2012, RCR hired veteran crew chief Drew Blickensderfer to work with Burton for the season. It was a move the team hoped would deliver solid results, but 2012 was another disappointing season for Burton. The 31 team scored only six top-tens enroute to a disappointing 19th place finish in the season standings. Blickensderfer and RCR ultimately parted ways with RCR, leaving Shane Wilson to fill the void for the seasons’ final few races. At that point, there were questions about what would happen for the 2013 season. RCR answered the main question by announcing that Lambert would rejoin the 31 team as full-time crew chief for 2013. No doubt, a good move as the Burton-Lambert pairing has already been successful and Lambert has proven himself worthy of the job after a stellar 2012 Nationwide Series campaign.
After a slow start to the 2013 season, largely due to rebuilding of the RCR Cup program and allowing for Burton and Lambert to get the relationship reestablished, the results have started to show. Burton has four top-tens this season, two of which are in the last five races, and has made a move up to 17th the standings. Things began turning around for the 31 team beginning with Charlotte when they scored four straight finishes of 12th or better. The next three races resulted in less than desirable finishes, however they were not performance related. While running in the top-ten at Sonoma, contact from another competitor late in the race resulted in a spin and a loss of track position. At Kentucky, Burton spent a lot of time racing in the top-five and top-ten before late race fender damage resulted in a 19th place finish. Finally at Daytona, Burton and the team opted to race conservatively and wait until the end of the race to make a move. Despite having a very fast car, late race cautions put a damper on forward progress and despite the conservative approach, Burton was still caught in an accident coming to the checkered flag resulting in a 16th place finish. One week later at New Hampshire, the 31 team put together an entire race with no issues plaguing them and were able to secure a strong finish.
Recent trends have shown the 31 team has speed and has slowly begun to establish itself as a competitor for a chase berth in 2013. The New Hampshire performance was the breakthrough that can ultimately lead to even better results in the coming weeks. With races such as Bristol and Richmond coming before the chase slots are determined, there’s simply no way Burton can be counted out, as those are tracks where the 31 can contend for the win. Confidence goes a long way as well, and that’s something Burton doesn’t lack these days. During his press conference at New Hampshire, Burton made the following statement:
“And we don’t think we are out of the Chase. I know everybody else in the world does, but we don’t. We feel like we can still do it. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to happen between now and Richmond. It’s so competitive, so tight. Today is a good example: Everybody is racing each other that’s racing for those spots, and if we can knock off some ‑‑ get on one of those streaks that I used to get on, we can make it and we intend too. I know it’s a long‑shot but I think we can.”
With a statement like that, coupled with the right crew chief and a Richard Childress Racing team on the upswing, the Jeff Burton and Luke Lambert combination is only going to get better and better. The veteran, Burton is most certainly not washed up and has plenty of fight left in him to go compete for a title before deciding to retire one day.
