Burton seeking fast start with Dodge

Monday, Jan. 8, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

Ward Burton always has been goal-oriented during his seven-year NASCAR Winston Cup career, which poses a problem for the Virginia native as he heads into the 2001 season.

Burton is one of nine drivers making the switch to the new Dodge Intrepid R/T this season as the automaker makes its return to NASCAR after a 15-year absence. Such a radical change has left Burton unsure of what to expect this year.

"I don't really know what my goal is yet," Burton said Sunday during a break in the manufacturer's test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "I've got to get through the first couple of races and then I think a goal will be clear.

"I want to improve on what we've done the last two years and start getting in the top five more. With this whole new program, I'm cautious to set a goal."

Burton, 39, enjoyed one of his best seasons last year by winning one race and finishing 10th in the final Winston Cup standings. Although it marked the second straight year in which he finished in the top 10 in points, Burton was not completely satisfied with his season.

"A third of the way through the season last year we were three points out of the lead going into Charlotte and we made a lot of little mistakes that cost us a lot of points," said Burton, who drives the No. 22 Caterpillar entry for Bill Davis Racing. "Then we had some bad luck that, for the most part, was out of our control.

"I think, realistically, we could have (finished) around sixth in the points. It seems like the last two years, we were real hot and the beginning of the year and real hot at the end, it's the middle that hurt us."

Burton said it will be imperative for him to get off to a good start this season, which begins Feb. 18 with the Daytona 500, and he said he believes the Dodge program will be far enough along to allow him to do that.

"I think it's going real well," Burton said of his switch to Dodge. "The development that we were working on all last year and this winter is on track. We're a little bit behind on motor development, in the amount of motors we've got.

"We had some bugs that popped up in the early fall that all the teams and Dodge had to go to work on. Hopefully, we've got them worked out. The motor is going to be the main issue to start with but I'm cautiously optimistic. At the same time, I've got a lot of faith in my motor builder and his guys."

Burton said the five Dodge teams will have a better idea of how the Intrepid will stack up against the Ford and GM cars once this test is finished.

"I'm cautious to be completely optimistic because there are just so many unknown variables," he said. "We'll know more once we leave here but we've just got to have some patience with it. But at the same time we need to come out running good.

"We need to be competitive right away. We've got the same people and we're more prepared car-wise than we were this time last year. I think if we start figuring the car out pretty quickly and have the horsepower close to where we need to be and have the (engine) reliability, we'll be just fine."

In addition to the season-opening Daytona 500, Burton said he is eager to get back to Las Vegas for the March 4 UAW/DaimlerChrysler 400 at LVMS.

"This is an exciting race for us and this town signifies excitement," said Burton, who finished second to his younger brother, Jeff, in the 1999 race here. "This is a really neat race track and I wonder sometimes why we run twice at some of those other tracks when you've got this track here. I mean, why don't we come here twice?"