Jeff Burton came to Martinsville Speedway looking to get the win that he lost back in March. Now in March he cut a tire late in the race after dominating the race.
On Sunday, Burton ked 134 laps but once again he wasn’t the one in victory lane after 500 laps.
Burton started 18th but quickly showed the speed they had in practice. He worked his way into the to the lead by lap 83.Burton’s pit strategy set them mid pack but Burton quickly made his way through the field and to the lead.
What hurt them on Sunday has hurt them the entire Chase; they start off the race very fast and with a good car but they can’t finish the race.
Burton commented after the race on the race car in the final run.
"Yeah, I don't know. The right rear tire is just killed on it. It just didn't accept the speed on that last run for whatever reason and just killed the right rear tire. We didn't have that problem all day and had it on the last run so I am really disappointed. Obviously we had a fast race car we just weren't as good as we needed to be at the end.”
Burton has struggled in recent weeks with the final half of the race. Coming into Martinsville, Burton has had three finishes worse than 15th. In all three of those races they could have won the race.
Burton is not the only driver struggling to close the deal; Jeff Gordon is also winless this season.
Gordon who has also had fast cars but in recent weeks the finishes don’t match that.
At Martinsville, late race contact with Kurt Busch sent Gordon into the wall and ended a day which looked promising early on.
At Charlotte battery issues saw Gordon fall off the lead lap but get back on only to finish 23rd. At California, late race speeding penalty saw Gordon and his team scramble in final laps to finish ninth.
Prior to Martinsville Gordon outlook for a title wasn’t very good and even he admitted that last Friday.
"Yeah, unless some major things happen I think we are. I know it's not something that I'm thinking about. We're approaching the races the same way. It doesn't change how we do that. But I can't say that we've got this weight on our shoulders of the pressure of a championship. I feel like in some ways, that's been taken off of us because I think we're too many points back."
For both Burton and Gordon both have had cars capable of winning races but they can’t close the deal.
What are they missing that teams like Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and others have that they don’t?
The common factor is they are unable to adjust quickly enough to changing track conditions. When they do they have lost enough ground that they are forced to play catch up in the final half of the race.
All the blame can’t be placed on the crew chief as we all quickly do. Both drivers have made mistakes of their own that have taken themselves out of a race win.
Whether it is spinning tires on the restart or pit road mistakes, both drivers have admitted they taken themselves out of win more than once this season.
If it is the feedback in the car or the changes made on the car during the race, both these teams that should be challenging for a title are not even in the conversation.
Now instead of challenging for a title they are looking forward to 2011 and looking for their first wins of the season.
Both of these drivers are championship caliber drivers who will win races and even a title before they retire.
First things first are they need to close the deal on race weekend.
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