| | Associated Press
LOUDON, N.H. -- Coming off a victory he had little reason to expect, Jeff Burton will race Sunday as the three-time defending champion of the New England 300.
But his success at New Hampshire International Speedway is no given, Burton says. So, he has quickly put behind him his first career victory at Daytona International Speedway, where he won the Pepsi 400 last Saturday night.
"When I woke up Sunday morning, I started thinking about Loudon," Burton said. "In this business, going to the next venue is what's important."
And Burton couldn't be in a better place -- three of his 13 career victories have come here -- to start a nice roll. But he says the competition in NASCAR is so intense that no one should expect success based on history.
"Right now, teams that are doing everything right could be junk in a week," Burton said.
To him, winning is achieved through change. The setup he will use Sunday probably won't mirror any of those with which he has won on the track.
"When you show up at the race track and you believe what you had was perfect and can't get better, I guarantee you that before long it won't be perfect," Burton said. "We've struggled at places this year that we hadn't struggled at before, so that concerns us a little."
Burton and Jeff Gordon are the only three-time winners on the 1.058-mile Loudon oval. But Burton can't even claim the role of prerace favorite.
"I concur," he said. "It doesn't matter what you've done before."
The favorite should be Tony Stewart, who could have won twice last year in New Hampshire.
But Stewart doesn't want to talk this week about the outstanding performances that ended badly. In July, he lost on a flawed fuel strategy and wound up 10th. In September, he nursed a sputtering engine to a second-place finish behind Joe Nemechek.
Stewart lost to Burton in July because his crew inexplicably disdained a late splash-and-go that would have given him enough gas to finish. When he ran out with less than three laps remaining, Burton inherited the lead and went on to win.
Stewart, who went on to set NASCAR rookie records, insists there will be no carryover this weekend.
"I think we just go to the track with the same attitude that we always do," he said. "We just try to have a good qualifying effort so we can start up front, so we don't have to worry about trying to pass too many cars."
Passing in Loudon is difficult, but not an unmanageable route to the winner's circle. Burton proved that last July. He wasn't fast in qualifying, and started 38th in a field of 43.
Rarely a high qualifier, Burton concedes that coming through traffic is riskier than starting near the front, where being caught up in accidents is of less concern. But he says a driver's starting position is not such a great factor in a long race.
"If you're running third with 75 to go, then why did it matter where you started?" he said. "What it's all about is getting yourself in position to win the race."
That's exactly where he put himself -- and was resigned to nothing more than a good finish until the ill-fated decision by Stewart's crew.
"They made a mistake," Burton said. "We didn't have the best car, but we found a way to win."
Now, Burton would like to find a way to the top of the Winston Cup standings. He's fifth, 213 points behind leader Bobby Labonte halfway through the 34-race season.
"I'm optimistic, because for the last month we've run worse than we have in three years," he said, alluding to a poor finish of 34th June 4 at Dover, Del., and two mediocre ones before the Daytona victory. "By the skin of our teeth, we have managed to hang on to fifth.
"That tells me that there's a tremendous opportunity for an up
side, if we can get our act together."
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