by Ryan McGee

TOP 20 DRIVER COUNTDOWN 19. Juan Pablo Montoya 18. Scott Riggs 17. Bobby Labonte 16. Casey Mears 14. Dale Jarrett 13. Greg Biffle 11. Kyle Busch 10. Jeff Burton 9. Kurt Busch/Ryan Newman 6. Carl Edwards 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4. Jeff Gordon Sign up now and create your free fantasy team and league. Ordinal out of range Watch the Daytona 500 on FOX, February 18 at 2 p.m. ET. More NASCAR

2006 Rewind

1 wins, 4 poles, 7 top fives, 20 top tens, 7th in points

It would be easy to go back through Burton's 2006 season and point out what could have been. He should have won at Indianapolis in August, he should have won at Bristol three weeks later, and after holding down the top spot in points during four of the first five weeks of The Chase, he probably should have finished higher than 7th in the final standings.

But we're not going to harp on what should have been because what was became easily the best feel-good story in the Nextel Cup garage. The one-time perennial title contender (he finished 5th or better in points from 1997-2000) saw his career inexplicably left for dead by longtime employer Jack Roush in 2004, what would become his third straight year finishing outside the top ten. Burton managed to wriggle out of his deal with Roush and head over to Richard Childress Racing. Problem was RCR was stuck in the same sort of rut as its new driver. 2005 brought an 18th place points finish and six top 10s.

This is why 2006 caught everyone, at least everyone outside of Welcome, N.C., by surprise. Burton, an admittedly poor qualifier, won the pole for the Daytona 500, the first of four on the season. From there he recaptured the consistency that caught the eye of Roush and mentor Mark Martin so many years ago. By season's end, he was back in Victory Lane for the first time in five years, back among the ranks of the Cup contenders, and more importantly, he was smiling again.

Why He Will Finish 10th

Jeff Burton and his wife Kim, arrive for the Tiffany & Co. and Sprint Nextel reception. (Chris Trotman / Getty Images)

Everyone on the resurgent No. 31 team is back, from the over the wall crew to crew chief Scott Miller, a longtime Richard Childress Racing employee. Same goes for the other two RCR teams, which is key for the entire organization. Childress and Co. have finally broken out of their post-Dale Earnhardt funk, thanks in no small part to the leadership of Burton, who immediately revealed to the poor-but-proud team that they had the same resources and equal talent to what he had just left at Roush.

Kevin Harvick seemed thrilled to hand over leadership to the 13-year vet and rookie Clint Bowyer has taken to asking for Burton's advice. (By the way, have you ever noticed how much Bowyer and Burton look alike?)

That being said, the No. 31 and No. 29 teams are likely to experience a bit of a Chase hangover to start the season, a small price to pay for both cars getting the opportunity to lead the point standings last fall. Once it gets its legs back under itself, look for the No. 31 Cingular Chevy to at least double last year's win total.

The All-Telling, All-Knowing Stat: 13.9

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That was Burton's average starting position in 2006, a 4.2 spot improvement over his previous career-best of 18.1 in 1998. Before 2006, his career average starting position was 23rd and he had won only one Bud Pole in 403 career starts. Last season he won four poles in 36 starts.

Fantasy Lock: Las Vegas

His seventh place run last March set the tone for the season and added to his already impressive Sin City resume. In nine career visits to the high desert of Nevada, Burton scored two wins (back-to-back in '99-00), three top fives, six top 10s, and a career-best average finish of 10.6. He's also money at New Hampshire, where he owns four wins, as well as Phoenix and Darlington.