Most of the media and fan focus this Sprint Cup season has been on points leader Kyle Busch and his dominant Joe Gibbs Racing team and the three superspeedway victories by Carl Edwards in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

JEFF BURTON CAR: No. 31 Chevrolet PRIMARY SPONSOR: AT&T Mobility CREW CHIEF: Scott Miller 2008 VICTORIES: 1 2008 TOP-10 FINISHES: 7 CURRENT STANDING: 2nd But Jeff Burton and Richard Childress Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick have put together a string of steady performances that have them in the top 10 in points and carrying the colors for Chevrolet in a season in which the perennial top Chevrolet team, Hendrick Motorsports, hasn't enjoyed its usual success.

Burton, the most experienced of the RCR drivers, is leading the team effort. He's second in the standings, 79 points behind Busch. Bowyer is fifth, and Harvick is ninth.

Burton's numbers aren't eye-popping, but they're what it takes to win a championship. After 11 races, his average starting position is just 24.7, but his average finish is 8.1, including a victory at Bristol.

Photos by NASCAR Burton pointed out to reporters at Lowe's Motor Speedway that the other Chevy teams aren't that far off, speed-wise.

"Obviously the Hendrick group hasn't done quite as well this year to this point as they did last year, although if you look at most races, one of their cars has had a chance to win," he said. "The 88 [Dale Earnhardt Jr.] has been probably their best car up to this point, and they've been very competitive. So we don't feel like we're the lone rangers by any means, and certainly [Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr.] had their chances to win races, too."

But he emphasized that Childress' teams have earned the position they're in.

"We've worked really hard to be better organized, to try to make every part of our company to be a little bit better, and we have to do that some more," he said. "We're still not where we need to be, but we're prepared. We're a very bluecollar kind of a company. We take pride in that but we've scribes as "the grind part of the year" before the start of the Chase - he knows that his team has more work to do and when the time is right, I believe that we're capable of getting our business done."

CLINT BOWYER CAR: No. 07 Chevrolet PRIMARY SPONSOR: Jack Daniel's CREW CHIEF: Gil Martin 2008 VICTORIES: 1 2008 TOP-10 FINISHES: 7 CURRENT STANDING: 5th And he said that if his team year is when we're going to be our strongest.

"We put specific plans together to hopefully be the best

KEVIN HARVICK CAR: No. 29 Chevrolet PRIMARY SPONSOR: Pennzoil CREW CHIEF: Todd Berrier 2008 VICTORIES: 0 2008 TOP-10 FINISHES: 5 CURRENT STANDING: 9th