by FOXSports.com

(Sam Greenwood / Getty Images)

Birthdate: June 29, 1967 (age 41)
Hometown: South Boston, Va.
Residence: Huntersville, N.C.

Professional

Team: Richard Childress Racing
Car: No. 31 AT&T Impala SS
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Crew chief: Scott Miller

Rookie season: 1993 (1 race), 1994 (full season)
Career Sprint Cup Series starts: 509
Career Sprint Cup Series wins: 21
Career Sprint Cup Series poles: 6
Best Sprint Cup Series points finish: 3rd (2000)

Career highlights: Recognized as one of NASCAR's elder statesmen, Jeff Burton has compiled his share of accomplishments in a combined 16 years of competition for the Stavola Brothers, Roush Racing and Richard Childress Racing. He amassed a career-high six wins during the 1999 season en route to a fifth place finish in the standings. Burton has also finished top 10 in the championship standings eight times. The 41-year-old holds the record for leading every lap on his way to winning the only restrictor plate race at New Hampshire (Sept. 17, 2000).

Charting the Chase

Phoenix

Recap: A team performance helped Burton overcome a tight condition early and lapped cars throughout for his 18th top-10 finish of the season.

Texas

Recap: Another driver that struggled with handling at Texas, Burton was down a lap most of the day but remained within reaching distance of a top 10 finish throughout. Unable to make up the lost lap, he settled for leading the cars a lap down at the end of the day.

Atlanta

Recap: Race day never went according to plan for Burton, but things took a turn for the worse on Lap 303 of 325 when he made contact with Dave Blaney and triggered a five-car incident. Unlike the others, Burton had minimal damage and went on to the finish. Still, whatever fading title chances he had were erased with his finish -- second worst amongst the Chasers at Atlanta.

Martinsville

Recap: Burton ran solidly among the top 12 most of Sunday, but during the final pit stop, he pitted outside his stall and got penalized one lap as a result. With only 33 laps remaining after the pit stop and no "lucky dogs" to help him out, Burton had to settle for the result.

Charlotte

Recap: Although Jeff Burton was one of the best drivers in the Bank of America 500, it was late race pit strategy that let him claim victory Saturday night. Entering the pits as the race leader on Lap 302, Burton and Co. opted to just take fuel, allowing them to stay out front where the clean air let him stroll until the finish. The result let the Richard Childress Racing driver jump to second in the standings, one of the few drivers left that still has a realistic chance at this year's Cup title.

In his own words: "Turning into Victory Lane here is just and incredible feeling. I don't take anything for granted, they come hard and few between. Real proud of our guys. Everybody has been working really hard and putting a lot of effort in to it. I couldn't be any more proud of the effort. We are racing for wins, but we have got a championship in the back of our mind all the time. We were just kind of laying it out there and seeing what we could make happen. All those that won all those races, they have an awful lot to lose they got us beat so we are just going and racing and having a good time."

Talladega

Recap: Jeff Burton had a solid points day Sunday, leading eight laps en route to a fourth-place finish. Looked very strong when he was drafting with his teammates and was in position to pounce if there were any problems up front at the finish. Remains a force in the Chase as he is just 99 points behind the leader in the standings.

In his own words: "I thought we did a good job today. Had teammates that really helped me out a lot today Clint (Bowyer) there at the end and Kevin (Harvick) early in the race. I thought all three of us worked really well there together and helped each other a lot. We ran well. All of us ran well but more importantly we came out of here good. Any time you get a top-five at Talladega you've got to be happy with it. Certainly rather win but this was a tough place and just getting out of here with a top-five is always a good thing.

"We had a very good points day today. There is still a lot of good racing left. I am just really proud of my team and my teammates. We worked well together out there and showed some strength. It was a good day for our AT&T Chevrolet. Now we head to Charlotte."

Kansas

Recap: Like teammate Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton had to rally from an early problem (tachometer issues before the start of the race) that dropped him to the rear of the field. But Burton made his way to the top half of the field early -- running 175 laps inside the top 15 -- before crossing the finish line in seventh.

In his own words: "We had a good car; not a fast car, but a good car. We just needed to find more speed. We have good race cars on lap 20, but not fast race cars. We've got to find a way to make some speed."

"We ran well today. We ran third to sixth most of the day. When they drop the green with that many laps to go, it just kills us. But we'll keep working on it and we'll get better."

Dover

Recap: After a rough stretch of races midseason, Burton has found his magic again, capturing his third consecutive top-10 result. Unfortunately, he was unable to gain any bonus points, so his ninth-place result at Dover was not enough to keep him from losing ground in the title fight.

In his own words: "We were pretty decent. The AT&T Chevrolet was really good in the middle of the race when everybody was on different pit sequences. I'm proud of the effort everyone on this team put in to get the finish we did. We're only 20 percent into the Chase and anything can happen but you can believe that we're going to continue to keep digging."

New Hampshire

Recap: Jeff Burton may have found the consistency he had earlier this season, setting an average running position of sixth at Loudon on his way to a fourth-place showing.

In his own words: "We had a good solid run. We weren't the fastest car most of the day but we had the fastest car every now and then and got ourselves in position. We ran in the top-five all day. That's the kind of runs we need to get back to having. I feel like we can, I really do. I feel like our best stuff is coming. It's a good solid day for us. The main thing is we ran well. If we ran well and finished 30th, so be it but we ran well and when we run well good things happen."

Looking to the future

Homestead