Thompson In Turn 5 · Tommy Thompson · Wednesday June 25, 2008

For those that haven’t noticed, Jeff Burton is presently second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver’s championship. It sounds like a fact that’s hard to miss; but really, it’s easy to overlook a man sandwiched in the standings between media darlings Kyle Busch — leading the points race due to his phenomenal on-track performances — and the sport’s Most Popular Driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. But the reality is it’s Burton who trails Busch by just 103 points, while remaining ahead of Earnhardt, Jr. by 49. He continues to be a genuine contender for the 2008 Cup title, even though his workmanlike approach continually fails to capture the headlines.

Though Burton scored his 20th career win this March in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, his total for the year pales in comparison to Kyle Busch’s five trips to the Winner’s Circle. However, for the soon-to-be 41-year-old South Boston, Virginia native to be within striking distance of Busch for the points lead after having topped the standings going into Richmond in early May, he has certainly compensated for this disparity in trips to Victory Lane. Burton, after finishing 13th at Infineon last Sunday, has now finished inside of the Top 15 in each of the sixteen races held so far this season. Conversely, Busch, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, has failed to crack the Top 15 three times in ’08; and two of those finishes, a 38th at Martinsville and 43rd at Pocono, certainly negated some of the points advantage received through his series-leading win total.