Huge team effort pays off for Burton

Burton was involved in a multiple pile-up during Tuesday's practice session in which the driver's side of the car was severely damaged.

Instead of using the spare car, the team opted to repair their primary car and flew down extra crewman from their raceshop in North Carolina. They worked on the car until midnight and returned at 6am yesterday (Wednesday) to finish the job.

"This is our best car," said Burton. "We have all of our eggs in this basket - our other car is slower than this one. These guys left the shop in North Carolina without any clothes. They fired my airplane up and Frank [Stoddard, his crew chief] called them and said, 'Grab some stuff, get on Jeff's plane and come down.' Those guys didn't even have a toothbrush or a pair of underwear. Nothing, but here they come.

"They brought some spare parts and then people from every Roush team stayed and helped last night. Crew chiefs from other teams worked. I had a function last night and I came in about 10 o'clock and they were working. They would have worked all night, but NASCAR made them leave at midnight. This is just a great effort. This gives us our best chance to succeed.

"Nobody complains. If anything, it brings us all closer together. We don't want to do this all the time because that will tear them apart, but every now and then it really reminds them that they are a team," he added.