Seeking another Ward winner

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003 | 10:01 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Ward Burton is a man on a mission.

As winner of the 2002 Daytona 500, Burton not only is seeking to recapture the thrill of winning NASCAR's biggest race, he is looking to regain some of the credibility that victory gave him as a driver.

Burton had won only three times in 250 career Winston Cup starts going into last year's Daytona 500. He struggled through four winless seasons in the mid-1990s while Bill Davis was building his race team, and his victory on the 2.5-mile Daytona superspeedway validated the faith he had placed in Davis.

But 2002 would not be a storybook season for Burton. Although he won a second race in July at New Hampshire International Speedway, the season featured more lows than highs for Burton. Nine DNFs contributed to Burton finishing a disappointing 25th in points.

"Finishing 25th in points is ridiculous for us," Burton said. "I'm not a 25th-place driver and this isn't a 25th-place team."

But Burton manages to keep his roller-coaster season in perspective.

"We had some up and down times last year -- it wasn't all frustrating. We won two races and a lot of guys didn't do that.

"We broke more times last year than we did in the previous four years combined. We just went through a time when we had mechanical trouble and it seemed like every time a wreck happened, I was slap-dab in the middle of it."

Of course, the one wreck Burton managed to escape came in the closing laps of last year's Daytona 500. Burton was running in third place when Sterling Marlin spun out Jeff Gordon for the lead and beat Burton back to the start/finish line.

NASCAR threw the red flag. As a crew cleaned up the track during the break, Marlin got out of his car and attempted to pull a bent fender away from his tire. NASCAR penalized Marlin for the infraction and when the race was restarted, Burton held onto the lead for the final three laps.

"At the time of the win, I was so overwhelmed with emotion and media and sponsor obligations that it all just seemed surreal," Burton said. "Now, I have a full understanding on what it's about and I am hopeful to have the chance to get back into victory lane and do it again."

Burton said the enormity of what he accomplished last year at Daytona did not hit him until much later in the season.

"When you are in the middle of the game, it's hard to sit back and think of what things mean and the people that helped you get there," Burton said. "It was an exciting day of my life but the meaning of it, and the part of history that will forever remain, you can have time to reflect on it later down the road.

"I was in New York for two days (after the race), I came home and had a half day and then we went to Rockingham (for the next race) so it wasn't really a time to enjoy it as much as I did later down the road."

With the addition of crew chief Frankie Stoddard, who took over for Tommy Baldwin Jr. for the final seven races of last season, Burton said he is confident the team is back on the proper path.

"I think Frankie Stoddard brings a lot of stability to the team but I can't depend on Frankie to fix it all," Burton said. "But I've got a lot of confidence in my team; they've made a lot of good, positive changes ... and we're moving ahead." Now, I have a full understanding on what it's about and I am hopeful to have the chance to get back into victory lane and do it again."