Jeff Burton 2010 Fantasy NASCAR Preview

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=jeff+burton&iid=7811137″ src=”1/c/0/5/Daytona_500_Practice_9d60.jpg?adImageId=9954847&imageId=7811137″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]Jeff Burton

2009 Stats: Points Finish 17th, 0 Wins, 5 Top Fives, 10 Top Tens, Average Finish 18.4, Average Position 18.5, Laps Led 77, Driver Rating 75.5

2009 was a very rough year for Jeff Burton and Richard Childress Racing. Just like Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer he was the victim of bad cars being built in the shop. Towards the end of the season it appeared things turned around for the organization as a whole and especially for Burton. In the last four races of 2009 Burton finished 5th, 9th, 2nd, and 2nd. Before these last four consecutive top tens his last top ten was all the way back in the June Pocono race. I expect these last 4 races to more fully represent Burton’s season then the first 32.

Strengths- Burton is a driver who comes from the same mold that Mark Martin came from. They both take care of their cars and save them until the end. He’s a very consistent driver who knows how to salvage bad days. Burton also starts off each season strong so don’t be surprised if he’s somehow the points leader at some point in the season.

Weaknesses- Burton is to nice of a guy on the track sometimes. He simply won’t move people out of the way to get the win. Also its important to take note that he’s a pretty streaky driver so if things get bad you might want to temporarily bail on him until he’s shown improvment. Burton is also a poor qualifier.

Intermediate Track Grade- B+, It’s important for you to know my grades are based on speculation and not what happened last year. Burton has always traditionally been at his best on the intermediate tracks. Burton was extremely fast in the last few intermediate races in 2009.

Flat Track Grade- B+, Burton is really good at New Hampshire and Phoenix. Those two tracks will be his primary flat track strength in 2010. In the fall Phoenix race Burton arguably had the fastest car that day, but the 31 team qualified so poorly they never had any good track position.

Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B, Burton had a pretty good restrictor plate  track season in 2009. He finished 16th or better 3 times. Historically Burton has always been more succesful at Daytona then he’s been at Talladega.

Short Track Grade- B+, Ever since the COT was introduced Burton has been a solid contender in the spring Bristol race. Burton for whatever reason never seems to do as good in summer race. Burton’s pretty good at Martinsville and Richmond  he’ll be a solid top 10 contender at every short track race.

Road Course Track Grade- C, Burton’s not the most ambidextrous driver you’ll find out on the NASCAR circuit. If you’re in a league where you can take a waiver on him for the week do it.

How to use Jeff Burton from a fantasy racing perspective in 2010?

Jeff Burton is  a veteran driver that you won’t regret having on your team. He won’t be a driver who’ll win you the championship by himself but he’s a great compliment driver who won’t collect you DNF’s. Focus on using Burton on the intermediate tracks, flat tracks, and short tracks.

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