Burton Could Be a Chaser With a Twist

Without fanfare or fists shaking, Jeff Burton is in strong contention to qualify for NASCAR’s Chase for the Nextel Cup -- even if the veteran driver is still looking for his first win in nearly five years.

While defending champion Tony Stewart and other rivals have been hotly gesturing at each other lately in their battle to make the chase, Burton has quietly kept his No. 31 Chevrolet near the front for most of the season. He’s now third in the points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth.

Only the top 10 drivers qualify for the chase during the final 10 races of the 36-race season. The Nextel Cup series is off this weekend; its next race is the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 6.

Burton, 39, is a 17-time winner, but he hasn’t been to Victory Lane since Phoenix in 2001, and he finished 18th in the points in 2004 and 2005. This year he has been more consistent.

“I’ve seen stuff go wrong quickly,” the Virginian told reporters recently. “I’ve been around enough to know that can happen. You just can’t count anybody out.”

Burton has 13 top-10 finishes this year, and he has finished in the top five in four races. But with six races left until the chase -- including the Sony HD 500 at the California Speedway on Sept. 3 -- he’s still worried.

“We’re not good enough to lay back,” Burton said. “Nobody is.”

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Greener Pastures

Danica Patrick plans to join Andretti Green Racing next year because she feels the team has what it takes to help the popular driver win her first Indianapolis 500.

But for much of this year, the Andretti team has struggled to maintain the success that prompted Patrick’s decision to leave Rahal Letterman Racing at year’s end.

Andretti Green, co-owned by former Indy car driver Michael Andretti, won its first race of 2006 only last Sunday, when Tony Kanaan won the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Indy 225 at The Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin.

Before that, rivals Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Marlboro Team Penske divided victories in the first nine events of the Indy Racing League’s 14-race season.

Perhaps the most biting loss was the Indianapolis 500, when Michael’s son, 19-year-old Marco Andretti, was passed at the finish line by Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr.

Andretti Green also includes Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta of Valencia, but there are questions about whether both will return to the team now that Patrick is coming over.

This year’s drought was an abrupt change for Andretti Green, which won 21 of 49 races over the three previous seasons and produced the last two series champions, Kanaan in 2004 and Dan Wheldon last year. Wheldon then moved to Target Chip Ganassi.

Kanaan’s win last week could help rebuild Andretti Green’s momentum, but Marco Andretti said it still has work to do.

“We definitely need to get better on the big super speedways,” he said this week. “We don’t have the speed that the others do, we really don’t.”

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Parsons’ Spirits High

Benny Parsons, the television analyst and former NASCAR champion who disclosed this week he has lung cancer, hopes to keep working while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

“I plan to keep on talking about racing for as long as I can,” said Parsons, 65, who covers Nextel Cup races for NBC and TNT.

Known as “B.P.” in racing circles, Parsons won 21 times in 526 starts -- including the 1975 Daytona 500 -- and won the series title in 1973. He retired in 1988.

Parsons is being treated by Dr. Steven Limenpani, who also treated NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick during his fight with leukemia several years ago.

“The first thing everyone asks me is, ‘Are you a smoker?’ ” Parsons said. “The answer is I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978 and since then I’ve hated being around smoking. I don’t even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course.”

NASCAR Chairman Brian France said NASCAR “is saddened to learn” about Parsons’ cancer, and that “our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Benny.”

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Last Laps

* Bill Lester, who twice qualified for Cup races this year to become the first African-American driver in NASCAR’s top series in 20 years, is scheduled to sign autographs at the California Speedway today from 9 to 11 a.m.

Lester, 45, also hopes to qualify for the race at the Fontana track Sept. 3.

* Perris Auto Speedway has a four-division program scheduled Saturday night, including super stocks and sport compacts. Mark Shackelford of Riverside leads the super-stock points standings over Ed Perry of Carpinteria.

* Irwindale Speedway has five races scheduled Saturday night, including late models and super stocks. In the super-stocks class, Bryan Harrell of Riverside leads the points over Greg Crutcher of Covina.

* Champ Car canceled its race in Ansan, South Korea, that was scheduled for Oct. 17, partly because the track there isn’t yet finished. Champ Car returns to California on Sunday with the Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose.