Daytona 500 2000 - No. 99 needs to add consistency in 2000

No. 99 needs to add consistency in 2000
ESPN The Magazine

'99 EARNINGS: $5,211,301 | POINTS: 5th | WINS: 6 | TOP 5: 18 | TOP 10: 23

JEFF BURTON

What Makes Him Go: Burton has become comfortable at the front of the pack. In 1999, he led more laps than Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett and all but three other drivers (Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte). In 19 different races, Burton was in front for a total of 1,063 laps. He also led the most laps in six races. And only Gordon, with seven victories, won more races.
What Makes Him Slow: Burton continues to struggle with qualifying. Although he won a pole position at Fontana, he had to use seven provisional starting spots in 1999, or one for every 4.7 races. His average starting spot of 18.4 was only 17th best in the series. But at least he had his priorities straight. His average finish was a fifth-best 11.3.
Key Stat: 6 Burton's victory total in 1999 doubled his previous best in 1997. But this stat has Cain & Abel overtones for Burton family members. When Jeff took the checkered flag at Las Vegas, Darlington and Rockingham, older brother Ward was the frustrated runner-up.

The logo on his ride said No. 99 Exide Ford. So how come Jeff Burton's 1999 season makes you think roller-coaster?

Not one of those old-fashioned coasters that gives you a rickety-rackety ride to the top, a steep fall, a couple of hard curves and more laughs than screams. Rather, one of those sleek, high-tech jobs that keeps your stomach separated from the rest of you for three minutes that seem like three lifetimes.

Knocked out of the Daytona 500 in the big crash, Burton won at Las Vegas and Darlington in March and shot to the top of the Winston Cup points standings. He then reeled off four top-10 finishes in the next five races and headed to Richmond, one of his best tracks, with a 55-point lead over Dale Jarrett.

But then, while Burton was cruising along in the lead on lap 240, he felt a bad vibration. Tire problem, he thought. Worse, much worse. The drive train of his transmission broke. He finished 37th and dropped to second in points.

Even though he won the Coca-Cola 600 two weeks later, Burton never again tasted the lead in the championship points battle. Jarrett won Richmond, then cemented his place at the top with 11 straight finishes of sixth or better.

Meanwhile, Burton faded.

He won again at New Hampshire in July, but was unable to match Jarrett's season-long consistency. A pair of 36th-place finishes at the summer races in Pocono all but sealed his fate. The coup de grāce was a 37th at Charlotte in October, after he lost control while running all by himself.

Wins at Darlington and Rockingham in the stretch boosted his final ranking to fifth, but were too little, too late to raise his title hopes.

Consistency is the only element missing from the Burton arsenal.

He's smart. He's teamed with Mark Martin. And he's equipped with the best Fords car owner Jack Roush can provide. Burton and crew chief Frankie Stoddard have two full years of experience together and a tight relationship that has produced back-to-back fifth-place Cup finishes.

After Burton's Rockingham win, Roush brushed off observations that he looked bored as Burton celebrated in Victory Circle. In fact, he seems to have expected as much.

"Jeff and Frankie have done such a good job that I now count on them working together as they did," Rouse stated. "It was no great surprise when they were able to win after getting within striking distance. This year, Frankie Stoddard and Jeff Burton have come of age."

And in 2000, don't expect his boss to act too surprised if Burton roars all the way to the top.

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