Kevin Harvick suffered his first DNF since August 2005. Credit: Autostock

Two RCR engine failures rain on Burton's victory

Engine department says it may be conservative for Kansas race

DOVER, Del. -- Despite Jeff Burton's victory Sunday at Dover, Richard Childress Racing may tone down its engine program for next week's third race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup after its other two cars suffered engine failures.

Clint Bowyer had a top-five run going until his motor let go. Credit: Autostock

Dover 400 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Jeff Burton Chevy 2. Carl Edwards Ford 3. Jeff Gordon Chevy 4. Kurt Busch Dodge 5. Greg Biffle Ford 6. Martin Truex Jr. Chevy 7. Bobby Labonte Dodge 8. Clint Bowyer Chevy 9. Denny Hamlin Chevy 10. Matt Kenseth Ford • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Victory LaneJeff Burton celebrates in Victory Lane at Dover Top finishersKenseth, Edwards, Kahne and Martin talk about Dover Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

The RCR Chevrolets of both Kevin Harvick, who came into the Dover 400 leading the standings, and rookie Clint Bowyer, who finished eighth, suffered similar valve train failures on Sunday.

Burton said it was too soon to determine if any changes would be made before next weekend's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway, but Danny Lawrence, Childress' assistant head engine builder and the chief Cup engine tuner at the track, was of a mind to back off, at least standing in the rain after the race at Dover.

"We're pushing the stuff pretty hard," Lawrence said. "And this is one of those racetracks that's really long and hard on stuff and we just got everything too close [to tolerances].

"It was a little issue in the upper end -- the valve train. They were both the same thing. We're just pretty radical and we're just going to have to calm a few pieces down a little bit. We're just pushing hard, that's all that I can say."

Lawrence said that was what the Chase required.

"You gotta go," Lawrence said. "You've got 10 races to go [in the Chase] and you gotta go."

Burton fell out of his only race this season after an engine failure at Michigan in August. Harvick's last DNF was due to an accident, at Bristol in August 2005 -- 40 races ago.

Lawrence said he was surprised Burton's No. 31 Monte Carlo made it into Victory Lane -- snapping the Virginian's 175-race winless streak.

"Jeff's just living right, that's all I can tell you -- or something," Lawrence said, smiling. "We've got a lot of work to do this week, but we're going to go back to Kansas and plan on hammering on 'em again."

Burton said not to count on much of a horsepower decrease, but either way he was nonplussed and in no mood to rush to judgment.

"We'll have to look and see what the issues were, and figure out what happened and why it happened," Burton said. "And then we'll be able to understand it.

"People make a huge mistake of analyzing what went on Sunday night. We'll figure it out by Tuesday and we'll know what happened. We're still going to Kansas to win.

"If we have to back off of our engines because of some parts that we broke, then that's what we'll have to do. But that doesn't give us the freedom of going and not having a chance to win the race -- or to chalk off not winning to the engine program.

	Jeff Burton escaped RCR's engine trouble and went to Victory Lane at Dover. Credit: Autostock
	Chase for the Nextel Cup After Dover (2nd of 10 races) Pos. +/- Driver Behind 1. +4 Jeff Burton Leader 2. +2 Jeff Gordon -6 3. -- Matt Kenseth -18 4. -2 Denny Hamlin -18 5. -4 Kevin Harvick -54 6. -- Mark Martin -75 7. -- D. Earnhardt Jr. -102 8. +1 Jimmie Johnson -136 9. -1 Kasey Kahne -182 10. -- Kyle Busch -224 • Complete standings, click here SUPERSTORE •   2006 Chase driver hats!

"We don't think like that. If we have to back off, we'll back off. Danny's a really good guy, but come Tuesday, come talk to me then. I bet they'll figure out what's wrong and I'll bet they won't have to back up anything."

Neither Burton nor his crew chief, Scott Miller, knew the exact cause of the three-car team's problems before being told after their media briefing.

"I didn't have to tell [Burton] because I'm sure he passed [Harvick] on the racetrack and he probably thought the same thing that I did," Miller said. "First, I heard [Harvick] coming by down a cylinder and next, about 20 or 30 laps later our other teammate [Bowyer].

"So the only thing we could do is keep on doing what we were doing and just keep our fingers crossed that the same things didn't happen to us."

"I knew [Harvick] was having trouble, like Scott said, because we passed him after he was having his trouble," Burton said. "I didn't know until the race was over that [Bowyer] was having their trouble.

"Really, if you go back and look at the engine failures at RCR, it's pretty minimal. I figured it was just an isolated case with [Harvick]. I didn't know [Bowyer] was having trouble, too, but I figured it was in my best interest not to know anything about it."

Harvick, who was running in the top 10 and stood to maintain his lead in the Chase before the problem struck and he left the race after 366 laps, was short-winded but praised his team before hustling out of the garage.

"I blew up," Harvick said. "The guys have done a great job all year -- that is the first time we had an engine failure in I don't know how long.

"What do you do?"

Harvick never led the race. In fact, Burton and Matt Kenseth were the only two of 10 Chase contenders who did. Harvick unofficially fell to fifth in the Chase, 54 points behind new leader Burton, after finishing 32nd.

"I blew up a little bit early," Harvick said. "These guys have done a great job getting the engines where they need to be [and this was the] first failure we have had in a long time.

"We will be fine [and] just keep racing."