AT&T Racing's string of consistent finishes went up in smoke after contact from another competitor sent Jeff Burton and his machine into the turn four wall with 20 laps remaining in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

The end result was a 37th-place finish for the driver of the AT&T Chevrolet – a disappointing end to a promising run. The unlucky effort was the team's first finish this season outside the top 15. At the same time, the 2008 Chase contender dropped one spot, to third, in the season championship point standings. Despite sitting 202 markers behind leader Kyle Busch, Burton maintains a solid footing in the top 10, 325 points forward of Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer in 10th.

Burton started the annual mid-summer Daytona classic from the inside of row 12 and although he was quick to note to crew chief Scott Miller that his AT&T Chevy Impala SS was loose entering and tight exiting the turns, the South Boston, Va., native held his ground and ran in the top 25 before the first of 11 cautions flew over the 43-car field on lap 19.

After visiting pit road for service and receiving top-notch work by the over-the-wall crew, Burton restarted the scheduled 160-lap showdown 16th in the running order. He quickly flexed his muscle, gaining an impressive nine positions over the next nine circuits, but the tight-handling condition returned a few laps later and he free fell to 18th on lap 43.

Despite the ongoing handling issues exiting the corners, Burton kept his machine under control and held his ground in the top 20 before taking advantage of the lap 72 caution period.

The classic ballpark adage “three strikes and you're out” held true for the AT&T Racing team over the second half of the 400-mile event as three separate incidents hampered Burton's planned charge to the front. The No. 31 Chevy stalled while leaving pit road under the lap 72 caution period and when crew members jumped in to help push the bright orange machine to help kick start the engine, NASCAR called a penalty for equipment leaving the pit box and the 20-time Cup Series winner had to restart at the tail end of the longest line.

Strike two occurred on lap 124 when Burton, while running 12th, was clipped by the No. 83 machine and was sent spinning into the tri-oval. Luckily, the AT&T Chevy was spared damage and, after a fresh set of tires, Burton was back on track in the 31st position.

With 20 laps remaining and while running 19th, AT&T Racing's charge through the field was cut short when a multi-car incident broke out off of turn four. Burton struck out when the No. 5 machine spun in front of him and clipped the right-front bumper, sending him into to the wall and causing heavy damage to the No. 31 Chevy.

A broken radiator and oil pump forced the team to call it a night, leaving Burton with a 37th-place finish.

Kyle Busch captured his six victory of the 2008 season and was followed to the line by Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. Kurt Busch and David Ragan rounded out the top-five finishers.

Burton's RCR teammates Bowyer and Kevin Harvick finished ninth and 12th, respectively.

Next weekend the NASCAR Cup Series takes their tour to the Windy City for the division's annual stop in Joliet, Ill.

The LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, July 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30pm EDT and will broadcast coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Thursday, July 10 at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

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