Burton doing everything right as early points leader

FORT WORTH, Texas -- By running up front seemingly every weekend, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are getting all the attention. And most of it is justified. But it's Jeff Burton who keeps putting together the kind of season that makes you wonder if this is the year that he winds up being the one holding the Sprint Cup at Homestead.

In many ways, Sunday's Samsung 500 was a typical spring trip to Texas for Burton: Qualify in the bottom half of the field and patiently work your way into the top 10.

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Despite restarting 10th after taking on four tires with a handful of laps remaining, Burton was able to pick off four cars over the green-white-checkered restart for a sixth-place finish. Considering that he started 35th, it was just another day at the office for the 40-year-old Virginia native.

"That's how we run on these tracks," Burton said. "We run fourth to 10th every week. That isn't bad, but we just need to keep working."

In 2005, Burton started 41st and finished 12th. In 2006, he wound up sixth after rolling off 21st. Last season, he put his No. 31 Chevrolet on the front row but never led a lap all day until he passed Matt Kenseth for the lead on Lap 334 -- his second win at Texas.

Consistency is good, and that's the best way to solidify a spot in the Chase. Combined with teammate Kevin Harvick's 11th-place finish, Burton extended his lead in the standings another 20 points and now leads Harvick by 59. More importantly, Burton is 245 points ahead of 13th-place Matt Kenseth, giving him a cushion in case bad luck befalls the No. 31 team.

Championship teams use strategy to their advantage. On Sunday, Burton and crew chief Scott Miller rolled the dice on the final restart, hoping that fresh rubber might give him a benefit. But the extended cleanup following Martin Truex Jr.'s engine issue negated much of that edge.

Still, Burton felt it was the correct call -- and something that may pay off in the future.

"It was the right thing for us to do, putting on four [tires]," Burton said. "We weren't very good on restarts and two wasn't going to help us. Putting on four for us was right.

"I know two worked good for [Ryan] Newman but I think we got by everybody else on four. Clint [Bowyer] got wrecked on that last lap but for us, it was the right thing to do."

Burton's been in this position before. Exactly 12 months ago, he was celebrating in Victory Lane, just eight points behind Jeff Gordon and carrying similar momentum. But after a 13th-place effort at Phoenix, his season hit a snag at Talladega. From that point, Burton scored just one top-10 finish in the next seven races and never was a factor after back-to-back poor finishes early in the Chase.

This season? So far, so good.

But Burton isn't satisfied with just being good. He wants outstanding -- and that's why he seemed disappointed as he hustled back to his hauler.

He wants his team to reach the same level that he's seen from organizations like Roush, Gibbs and Hendrick over the past few seasons. That means being at the top of your game in every aspect: in the garage, in the pits and on the track.

That means taking a top-10 car and winning with it.

"We struggled [today]," Burton said. "Sometimes we were really good, other times we weren't. Every time we came out of the pits, the car drove different. I don't really understand that.

"The guys on pit road did a great job. I'm real proud of everybody. We'll just keep plugging, man, keep working and trying to get a little better. We're good, we're just not great. We've got to keep digging."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.