AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Byline: David Poole
LAS VEGAS _ Part of the allure of Las Vegas is that success is only the turn of a card away.
It's possible, for example, for me to get well on Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. If Larry Foyt wins, the 400-to-1 odds on him could take me back to even for the week.
It's not smart, however, to count on drawing three cards to a royal flush if you need them to pay the mortgage. That's true in racing, too.
Jeff Burton understands this clearly. The driver of the No.99 Fords will start seventh Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track where he won in 1999 and 2000 after finishing second to teammate Mark Martin in 1998.
It has been, however, 42 races since Burton won anywhere in Winston Cup competition. After scoring the only two victories Roush Racing got during 2001, Burton's team was the only one to go without a victory as his three teammates amassed 10 wins one year ago.
"The first thing you do when you're in a streak like we've been in is hide all of the bullets in your house," Burton said. "It's not fun."