Burton and Skinner Still Looking for Elusive Win

There are only three more chances remaining for the drivers without a victory this season.

Among them are Ward Burton and Mike Skinner, ninth and 10th in the season points and the only drivers in the top 10 without a win.

Burton, who has one career victory, has come close, finishing second three times, including two weeks ago in Rockingham, N.C.

Skinner, the 1997 Rookie of the Year, has yet to reach victory circle in his Winston Cup career and has never finished better than third in 107 career starts.

But both insist they are pleased with the way the 1999 season has gone, win or no win, heading into today’s Checker-Dura Lube 500K at Phoenix International Raceway.

“A lot of people have been trying to get me to say or feel that we will not have had a winning season had we not won a race, and I can’t say that,” Burton noted. “This [Bill Davis Racing] team been doing an excellent job and they’re getting stronger.

“The wins and stuff will come. The poles and the wins and the leading laps, all that will come. We just need to keep on doing what we’re doing.”

Burton, the older brother of Winston Cup star Jeff Burton, has a total of six top-five finishes this season, but three of them have come in the last three races.

He was fifth in Charlotte, fourth in Talladega and then second to his brother in Rockingham.

“We’ve been mainly a top-10 team all year,” Burton said. “It’s just been these last 10-15 races where we’ve been knocking on the door for top-fives. To have three in a row just shows the improvement this team is making.”

A lot of people say that Skinner is now the best driver without a win, a fact that irritates the former NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champion.

“We feel like we’re so close,” Skinner said. “I feel bad for the team that we haven’t won, yet, because Richard Childress Racing is certainly a team that has proven they can win.

“But all we can do,” added Dale Earnhardt’s teammate, “is keep getting after it. Eventually, things are going to fall right for this team.”

Eleven drivers have won at least once so far this year. Others who are still looking for that first win of the season include 1998 winners Jeremy Mayfield, Bobby Hamilton and Ricky Rudd, who is trying to extend his string of having won at least once in 16 consecutive seasons.

TOUGH TRACK: Jeff Gordon, who has won 49 races in his first seven seasons of Winston Cup competition, has reached victory circle at every track on the current schedule except Phoenix, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Texas has had only three Winston Cup races and Homestead will make its Winston Cup debut on Nov. 14. But Gordon is 0-for-6 on the 1-mile Phoenix oval.

In fact, his best finish at PIR has been fourth in 1994.

“Phoenix is a flat, fast racetrack and it’s tough to win here,” Gordon said. “I thought we had a car capable of winning here last year and then the rain came, so we weren’t able to see what we had for them at the end.”

Rusty Wallace won and Gordon finished seventh in the race shortened from its scheduled 312 laps to 257 by the wet weather.

“Each time we come here, we learn more and more,” Gordon said. “It’s one of those tracks where we don’t test, but it seems like we gain on it each time we come here. Hopefully, we’ll gain a little bit more than we did last time and we’ll have a shot at winning.”

Gordon leads the series with seven victories this season

POSITIONING: While Dale Jarrett holds a 246-point lead over runner-up Bobby Labonte in the championship chase, there are a number of other positions up for grabs further down the standings.

The point differential between Ken Schrader in 14th place and Wally Dallenbach in 21st is 251. In between are Sterling Marlin, Steve Park, Kenny Irwin, John Andretti, Jimmy Spencer and Bill Elliott.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Rick Mast is closing in on a feat managed only twice since 1977. So far, Mast, who drives for Yarborough-Burdette Motorsports, has been running at the finish of all 31 Winston Cup races this season.