Jeff Burton and the AT&T Racing team overcame a 24th-place starting position to earn the team’s first top-five finish of the 2008 season in Sunday’s UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The rock-solid fifth-place finish propelled the South Boston, Va., native three positions, to seventh, in the championship point standings. He currently sits 70 markers behind leader Carl Edwards. The 19-time Cup Series winner laid down the 24th-fastest time of the day during Friday’s qualifying session, touring the 1.5-mile speedway in 30.034 seconds (179.796 mph).

When the green flag waved in front of a sellout crowd of 153,000, Burton was quick to flex his muscle, gaining seven positions to move into 17th by the time the first yellow flag waved on lap nine. The 40-year-old driver informed crew chief Scott Miller that the AT&T Chevy was handling well but was slightly low on grip. Miller brought his driver to pit road one lap later for fresh right-side tires and fuel, hoping to gain valuable track position. Unfortunately, many teams chose not to pit, leaving Burton 26th in the running order when the field returned to green on lap 12.

The slight fallback didn’t bother Burton as he began to make his charge through the field. He was 22nd on lap 21, 17th on lap 33, 15th on lap 41 and 12th on lap 51 when green-flag pit stops began to take place.

Burton peeled off the racing surface on lap 60 for a routine four-tire pit stop. A slight hiccup in the pits only cost the team one spot on the track when the shifter popped out of gear as Burton was trying to leave the pit stall.

Caution for debris slowed the field on lap 68. With only seven green-flag laps on Burton’s tires, Miller gambled by keeping the veteran driver on the track. The game plan worked as Burton was scored the leader when the green flag waved on lap 75.

Over the next 30 laps, Burton would lose several positions as he tried to conserve the AT&T Chevy’s power and strength for the end of the race.

While Burton was running fifth on lap 108, Tony Stewart made contact with the outer retaining wall and brought out the day’s third caution flag.

Experiencing a tight-handling race car through the entrance and middle of the turns, Burton brought his bright orange machine to pit road for service. The ill-stricken AT&T over-the-wall crew powered their way through a lightning-fast pit stop, including air pressure and chassis adjustments, and returned their driver to the racing surface fourth.

During the middle stages of the race Burton would race in and around the top 10, running as high as fourth and as low as 10th, and would visit pit road three times for service.

The sixth caution flag of the day waved on lap 213 for debris and Burton brought his No. 31 machine to pit road one final time. Grappling with a loose-handling machine entering the corners, Miller called for air pressure adjustments to the left- and right-front tires. Another fast pit stop by the AT&T crew advanced Burton one position on track and he restarted the final 45 laps eighth.

During the closing laps, the intensity built as the frontrunners battled for position. On lap 264, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon collected each other right in front of Burton, but the quick hands of the 2007 Samsung 500 winner allowed him to avoid the wreck. Gordon slammed into the wall causing heavy damage to his machine and placing plenty debris on the track, forcing NASCAR to red flag the 267-lap event for clean-up.

Engines re-fired 18 minutes later and a green-white-checkered finish set the tone for the final laps. Burton restarted fifth but was unable to mount a charge on the leaders and crossed the finish line in the same position.

Carl Edwards captured his second consecutive victory of the season followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle. Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammate Kevin Harvick finished fourth while Burton rounded out the top-five finishers.

Burton’s fellow RCR teammate Clint Bowyer finished 28th.

Next weekend, Jeff Burton and the AT&T Racing team head toward the Peach State for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Live coverage of the event will be televised on FOX Sunday, March 9 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The race will also be covered live on the Performance Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fourth of 36 races on the NASCAR Cup Series tour will be televised live on SPEED Friday, March 7 beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST.

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