Top 20 Countdown: No. 11 Jeff Burton
(Getty Images)
2009 statistics
Finish | Poles | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
17 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
The countdown
No. 20: Martin Truex Jr. | Career stats
No. 19: Brian Vickers | Career stats
No. 18: Kasey Kahne | Career stats
No. 17: Clint Bowyer | Career stats
No. 16: David Reutimann | Career stats
No. 15: Kevin Harvick | Career stats
No. 14: Ryan Newman | Career stats
No. 13: Greg Biffle | Career stats
No. 12: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Career stats
No. 11: Jeff Burton | Career stats
No. 10: Revealed Jan. 25
Editor's note: Yahoo! Sports is counting down the top 20 drivers of the 2010 season. The order was determined by a survey, which asked five NASCAR journalists – Jay Busbee and Jay Hart (Yahoo! Sports); Jenna Fryer (Associated Press); Dustin Long (Landmark Newspapers); and Nate Ryan (USA Today) – to predict the final standings for the 2010 season. The countdown will conclude on Feb. 5 with the unveiling of the No. 1 driver.
2009 finish: 17th
Our 2010 predictions:
• Jay Busbee: 9th
• Jay Hart: 9th
• Jenna Fryer: 17th
• Dustin Long: 10th
• Nate Ryan: 16th
2010 outlook: Since joining Richard Childress Racing midway through the 2004 season, Jeff Burton has been a stabilizing force for an organization that was still looking for an identity three years after the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. Though RCR has struggled to keep up with the likes of Hendrick Motorsports – and who has? – the team's three drivers (Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer) have been perennial Chase contenders since 2006.
That all changed in 2009, a season in which RCR didn't win a race, didn't place a driver in the Chase and one in which they erased all the momentum built during a 4-5-6 finish in 2008. But rather than chalk up '09 as a complete waste, team owner Richard Childress took a more proactive approach, reorganizing team management midway through the season in an effort to get a jump on 2010.
The September change appeared to work, especially for Burton, who recorded three of his five top fives in the last four races of '09, including back-to-back second-place finishes to end the season.
Going into the new season, RCR appears to be heading in the right direction, though that is a familiar theme here. Last February, Burton talked about how excited he was to see how the offseason work the team had done would pay off. At first glance, it did, though by June it was clear the entire team was not going to be much of a player.
A year later, here they are again, in the exact same position, hoping but not knowing how good they will be.
What you need to know: If Burton is to rebound to make the Chase, he must be better during the summer months. Last season, Burton went 18 races between June 14 and Oct. 25 without a single top 10. Burton experienced similar (though not quite as devastating) lulls in 2007 and '08, too.
