Burton's influence credited for turning around RCR

FONTANA, Calif. -- Jeff Burton likes to point to Aug. 22, 2004, at Michigan. It's the date, he says, that saved his career.

Richard Childress likes that date, too. It's the date, he says, that helped save his team when he hired Burton away from Roush Racing. "I can't thank him enough for what he's done for RCR," Childress said Saturday at Auto Club Speedway.

Cup Victories

Since 1997

Year	Burton	RCR
1997	3	0
1998	2	1
1999	6	3
2000	4	2
2001	2	3
2002	0	1
2003	0	3
2004	0	0
2005	0	1
2006	1	6
2007	1	3
2008	1	2
Total	20	25

• Superstore: Jeff Burton

That's understandable, considering Burton was just three years removed from being labeled the next title contender for Roush Racing and also on the verge of being let go by the very same team due to sponsorship woes.

Burton won a career-high six races for Roush in 1999 and had four victories the next season while finishing third in points. He was labeled as a championship favorite heading into the 2001 season, only it didn't happen.

He had won 17 races while helping build the No. 99 team from the ground up for Roush. He had four consecutive seasons of finishing in the top 10 in points. And yet, after back-to-back winless campaigns, he was struggling again at Roush in 2004 after Citgo left as the primary sponsor.

Burton began that season with just three top-10 finishes compared to five DNFs in the first 22 races, many times driving a sponsorless car. It led him to Aug. 22.

Following the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500, RCR promoted Kevin Harvick to the Cup Series at an accelerated pace, and used a platoon of drivers to fill the team's second car. Harvick won two races and finished ninth in the standings, while the other team floundered despite a New Hampshire win by Robby Gordon.

RCR expanded to three cars the next year with Harvick, Gordon and Jeff Green running the entire season. Green's 17th-place finish in points and Harvick's one victory were the season's highlights. Combined, RCR had 10 top-five finishes. The next year was better with Harvick finishing fifth in points and earning another victory; Gordon won two races.

Instability in the No. 30 car, however, was still problematic. And 2004 didn't change that.

In addition to Harvick and Gordon, six drivers made at least one start for RCR that season. One of them was Burton.

"When I was talking about hiring him, a couple people asked, 'Why would you want to hire him?'" Childress said of Burton, who was 37 at the time. "I watch all these different guys drive these racecars, and he drives every single lap -- if he's running 15th or 20th or wherever -- you can believe he's getting everything out of the car. That's the kind of driver he is, and that's the kind of driver I like." (Continued)