Jeff Burton and the Prilosec OTC Racing team made the most of a unique situation in Sunday’s 15th running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and turned it into a ninth-place effort at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Scott Miller-led crew cranked out their 11th top 10 of the 2008 season and, at the same time, maintained the third position in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings. The South Boston, Va., native sits 271 points behind leader Kyle Busch and a mere 18 points behind second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Burton also sits 371 markers forward of Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer’s 12th-place tally with six races remaining until the Chase for the Cup start.

After posting a less-than-stellar qualifying effort of 32nd, Burton and Company spent the final two practice sessions on Saturday afternoon fine-tuning the No. 31 Prilosec OTC Chevrolet. Although forward progress was made, a concern for tire wear grew heavily in the garage area with teams only being able to run anywhere between eight and 11 green-flag laps on fresh rubber.

With safety a number one concern in the sport, teams were under the watchful eye of NASCAR for the entire 160-lap contest, with NASCAR throwing mandatory caution flags every 10 to 12 green-flag runs.

The stop-and-go event was a nail-biting race for the Prilosec OTC crew as the team held its collective breath on each ensuing green-flag segment in hope that the tires would stay intact on the No. 31 Chevy.

Although Burton ran a conservative, yet steady, pace during the 400-miler, it was pit strategy and a relatively good handling machine that helped vault the veteran driver to the top 10 on lap 26. Miller called for right-side tires only on the day’s first mandatory pit stop and Burton never raced outside the top 15 from that point on.

Just past the halfway mark, on lap 106, Burton captured the lead and held it for the next 10 laps before settling in the fourth spot by the time the ninth caution flag waved on lap 123.

Over the closing stages, two more competition cautions slowed the field and Burton raced between second and seventh before losing two positions over the final laps. He crossed the line ninth.

Jimmie Johnson kissed the bricks for the second time in his career while Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin followed him across the line. Elliott Sadler and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five finishers.

Clint Bowyer finished 19th while fellow teammate Kevin Harvick became a victim of circumstance on lap 14 when the No. 2 machine got loose and spun, collecting the RCR driver along the way. Harvick was credited with a 37th-place finish.

Next weekend, Burton and the No. 31 crew head to the Pocono Mountains for the running of the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. Live coverage of the event will be televised on ESPN Sunday, August 3 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be covered live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 21st stop on the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series tour will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, August 1 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

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