Veteran Jeff Burton relaxed, having fun in this Chase

There are so many drivers in the Chase for the Cup who have story lines attached to them.

Jimmie Johnson is bidding for his third consecutive title. Carl Edwards, a lightning rod of controversy lately, is bidding for his first despite his on-track and off-track news.

And then there’s plain ’ol Jeff Burton, who avoids making big headlines, speaks eloquently and has been one of the stand-up guys in the sport.

In other words, he’s pretty much boring by NASCAR standards. But he could be boring all the way to his first championship.

Halfway through the Chase, Burton has moved up to second in the points after his win at the Bank of America 500 in Concord, N.C. Burton, 41, is 69 points behind Johnson and could be poised to win the elusive title.

Burton, in his third Chase, has found what he thinks is the secret.

He’s approaching every race free and easy, not getting too worked up about things. That kind of attitude that allowed him to gamble with not taking tires three times Saturday night in Charlotte. The move paid off as he held off Kasey Kahne and Johnson for his second win of the season.

"We’ve come into this thing very relaxed, committed to having a good time, committed to having fun," Burton said in his postrace news conference. "We may have gotten a little too tight the first year because, you know, we’d never done it before. I didn’t think we were last year, but we got off to a slow start. This year we just said, 'You know what, we’re going to go, have a good time, race hard, we’re going to do the best we can, and it will be what it will be.’ "

No one could have articulated Burton’s sentiments better, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. People often joke that Burton will go into politics once his racing career ends.

He’d like for that to happen after he’s won a title. He’s been close before. While driving for Roush Racing, Burton finished in the top five in points from 1997 to 2000, with a third in 2000 his best finish.

Burton, now in his fourth full year with Richard Childress Racing, was the Chase leader at the halfway point in 2006 but wound up seventh. He finished seventh again last year.

While his No. 31 Chevrolet has been one of the top cars in the Chase, he knows how fickle the sport can be. Two years ago he led going into Martinsville and finished 42nd because of an engine problem, effectively ending his title hopes.

"Momentum, I think, is a highly overused word," Burton said. "Momentum doesn’t create success. Success creates momentum. It’s the other way around. A lot of people think there’s this magical swirling ball above their head. If it’s swirling in the right direction, they’re going to win races. It doesn’t work like that."