Power Rankings: Burton, RCR making strides down the stretch
Updated Nov. 16
There's no question it has been a long, hard season for Richard Childress Racing.
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| Burton (R) on working with Berrier (L): 'I have a lot of faith in Todd. I think Todd has a lot of faith in me.' (US Presswire) |
As the sun begins to set on the 2009 season, the changes may finally be paying off with the organization seeing a resurgence over the past couple months.
Burton, especially, has seen a marked improvement in performance since Childress paired him with Todd Berrier at the end of October. In three races together, Burton has run off three consecutive top 10s and two top fives, including a season-high second-place finish Sunday at Texas.
Before the change, Burton hadn't finish in the top 10 since June.
"We both have a lot of respect for each other," said Burton of Berrier, who had been working with Casey Mears after starting the season as Harvick's crew chief.
"We came into this thing expecting to perform well. I have a lot of faith in Todd. I think Todd has a lot of faith in me. We're very blunt, very up front, very honest. We just go to work. He's real good about reminding me about things I need to be reminded of. He's everything I thought he was and more."
While the late-season surge has been uplifting, Burton knows success can be fleeting. He doesn't put a whole lot of stock in momentum helping lead to better things in 2010. For Burton, it's the work the team puts in to make the cars better that makes the difference.
"I think 'momentum' is the most overused word in all of sports," Burton said. "I think momentum is created because of success, not success because of momentum. When you have momentum, it's because you're doing the things that it takes to be successful.
"Obviously confidence is important. When you get on a roll, you're doing the things you need to do, it's because you can, it's because your team is capable. Success creates momentum. I don't care who you are, if you're not sitting in a car fast enough, you'll never have momentum because you don't have the stuff it takes to build momentum. "
Power Rankings after Phoenix:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Greg Biffle | 1 |
| Won the pole and led 74 laps on Saturday night but faded down the stretch to finish 12th. Still hanging on to the Sprint Cup Series points lead but by only a pair over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. | ||
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 2 |
| Climbed to within a whisker of the points lead with a sixth-place finish on Saturday night. Now the world awaits the announcement regarding the potential change of Kenseth's car number. Relax Kenseth fans, the 17 isn't going anywhere. | ||
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 7 |
| Roared back up the rankings and the points standings with his first win since October of last season and in the process gave team owner Rick Hendrick historic Sprint Cup victory number 200. Johnson's history has been to bunch up wins once he gets to victory lane. | ||
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 3 |
| Was in the mix for a second Darlington win but wound up settling for a fourth-place finish. Like Johnson Busch has returned to form in recent weeks and delivered on the expectations most had for the No. 18 team this season. | ||
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | 5 |
| Was behind the wheel of one of the coolest looking cars in recent weeks with a Cale Yarborough-inspired retro paint scheme on the No. 11 Toyota. Looked almost Yarborough-like at Darlington for a while but didn't have enough mustard to run down Johnson for the win. | ||
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | 6 |
| Wasn't exactly pleased with his team for some suspect pit work at one point of the race but kept his composure and battled back for yet another finish inside the top five. | ||
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 4 |
| It was a struggle for Junior to just finish 17th. Had a decent car early in the night but handling issues plagued the No. 88 squad, and you can be sure crew chief Steve Letarte won't bring the same set-up back to Darlington next season. | ||
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 8 |
| A rather quiet night for the Michael Waltrip Racing driver with an 11th-place finish. Still not bad when an "off night" can be within a hair of a top-10 run. | ||
| 9 | Tony Stewart | 12 |
| An interesting night for Smoke, who was very strong in spurts but had to fight through handling issues, a broken clutch and a fuel pressure problem during the 500 miles. Pretty solid performance to deal with all that and still come home third. | ||
| 10 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| A seventh-place finish and another top 10, but now that Johnson's 17-race winless drought has ended will the questions mount for Edwards on his not visiting Victory Lane for more than a year? | ||
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | 10 |
| Was the focal point of Darlington's promotional campaign trying to capitalize on Harvick's tussle with Kyle Busch last season. But overall a very quiet night for the No. 29 Chevrolet driver who left Darlington with a rather mediocre 16th-place finish. | ||
| 12 | Brad Keselowski | 9 |
| Hasn't performed well at Darlington during his Sprint Cup career and that remained intact on Saturday with a 15th-place Southern 500 effort. A downer for the Blue Deuce after Keselowski's Talladega win last weekend. | ||
| 13 | Ryan Newman | 13 |
| Was headed for a better night than what the results show when Newman got caught up in the aftermath of Kurt Busch's spin late in the race when he got punted from behind. The frustration overflowed once the checkered flag flew with both teams getting involved in a scuffle as well as Newman and Busch exchanging harsh words. | ||
| 14 | Paul Menard | 15 |
| A decent day with a 13th-place finish for the Richard Childress Racing driver. Continues to hang around on the fringe of the top 10 in the points standings. | ||
| 15 | Kasey Kahne | NR |
| Has finally completed the turnaround from his dismal start to the season and is knocking down consistent finishes on a weekly basis. Kahne's eighth-place run was his fifth straight top-10 finish. | ||
