Jeff Burton's championship hopes took quite a hit at Texas. Credit: Autostock

Burton's title hopes dimmed by tire failure

Contact with wall puts 31 team in garage for more than 40 minutes

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jeff Burton stood in the garage area, sweat rolling down his red, agitated face, wondering why a tire failure ended his bid for his first Nextel Cup championship.

It wasn't supposed to end this way, Burton said, mainly because his No. 31 Chevrolet was prepared with a setup more conservative than Pat Robertson.

Jeff Burton finished 38th at Texas after a tire issue. Credit: Autostock

Dickies 500 Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Tony Stewart Chevy 2. Jimmie Johnson Chevy 3. Kevin Harvick Chevy 4. Kyle Busch Chevy 5. Clint Bowyer Chevy 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 7. Casey Mears Dodge 8. Kurt Busch Dodge 9. Jeff Gordon Chevy 10. Denny Hamlin Chevy • Complete results, click here • Driver standings, click here Chase for the Nextel Cup After Texas (8th of 10 races) Pos. +/- Driver Behind 1. +1 J. Johnson Leader 2. -1 M. Kenseth -17 3. +1 Earnhardt Jr. -78 4. -1 D. Hamlin -80 5. +1 K. Harvick -105 6. +1 J. Gordon -157 7. -2 J. Burton -184 8. +2 Ky. Busch -233 9. -1 M. Martin -253 10. -1 K. Kahne -290 • Complete standings, click here SUPERSTORE •   2006 Chase merchandise! UnfortunateJeff Burton slams the wall, sending him to garage with heavy damage Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

It didn't matter. Burton blew a left-front tire on Lap 89 of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, sending him hard into the wall directly under the flagstand.

"That pretty much does it for us as far as the championship unless something crazy happens," said Burton, who managed to get back on the track to run laps and finish 38th.

The left-front of Burton's car was so heavily damaged that his team had a difficult time getting it rolled into its garage stall. The entire wheel well was engulfed in flames after the wreck, and Burton's smoldering car covered the garage area with a pronounced stench.

According to Burton, his team prepared his car specifically to minimize any chance of tire failure, electing to run a car with longer, less aggressive suspension parts.

"I don't think that was our fault," Burton said. "That was the longest A-frame we had run all year with the least amount of camber. We didn't do anything wrong camber-wise."

The A-frame, located near the wheel well, helps support the weight of the car and can be adjusted to go up or down. According to Burton, his exploded tire didn't show much wear on the inside part, and he argued that it was evidence that his team was not to blame for the failure.

Burton said he knew he had a problem around Lap 75, and he seriously considered pitting under green, but he decided against it. He was 20 laps shy of his pit window, and he attempted to ride out the problem until then.

It was a decision he later regretted.

"It is really difficult spot to put a driver in," Burton said. "If I would have pitted, they would have found nothing wrong with the tire, that is the thing, there is nothing wrong with the outside of the tire, it is something with the inside of the tire, they would have found nothing wrong, and I would not have slept all night, thinking, 'I shouldn't have pitted.'"

Burton had entered Texas just 84 points out of the Chase lead, and he was heavily banking on Texas and Phoenix to get him back into the points lead, which he held for four weeks early in the Chase.

Burton's season began to unravel at Martinsville two weeks ago, when he suffered engine failure. That DNF dropped him to fifth in the standings, and he lost more ground at Atlanta when a late caution prevented him from finishing better than 13th.

"We put a good effort out," Burton said. "We will go to the next two races and try to win them. If I had to do anything over that we have done so far, I'd change some things in retrospect, but today, I don't think that was our fault."