Jeff Burton and the AT&T Racing team turned in a hard-fought fifth-place finish in Sunday's Pocono 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.

Not only did the 20-time Cup Series winner post his fourth top-five and 10th top-10 finish of the season, but he also gained 121 points on current championship point leader Kyle Busch. Burton maintained the second position and is a mere 21 points out of the top spot.

The South Boston, Va., native started the 500-mile event from the 20th position and, despite wrestling with a tight-handling condition, Burton ran as high as 11th and was scored 14th at the event's halfway mark.

Three caution periods plagued the next 29 circuits and provided a prime opportunity for crew chief Scott Miller to make adjustments to the temperamental No. 31 machine. Burton restarted the 200-lap event 12th on lap 133 and slowly climbed the leaderboard when some of the frontrunners began peeling off the racing surface for fresh tires and fuel.

Pit strategy began to unfold and became a key determinant in the outcome of the race. Burton climbed as high as seventh before making a routine four-tire pit stop on lap 152. He returned to the racing surface 31st.

Over the course of the next 22 laps, the 40-year-old driver steadily climbed the charts as other teams made their way to pit road for tires and fuel. With a predetermined fuel window of 35 laps, one more pit stop was necessary for all teams.

While Burton was running in the 11th position, a handful of the frontrunners made the left turn down pit road beginning on lap 165. Miller opted to keep his veteran driver on the track for another 10 laps before summoning him to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and fuel. He returned to the track 22nd in the running order before the 10th and final caution flag came out just one lap later.

The caution flag provided the teams who had yet to pit a chance to take advantage of the caution and, by doing so, allowed Burton the opportunity to gain valuable track position.

Burton was scored 10th on the day's final restart. Over the closing 19 laps, he posted times faster than those in front of him and was able to capture five spots before the checkered flag flew.

Kasey Kahne captured his second points-paying victory of the season and was followed to the line by Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Burton rounded out the top-five finishers.

Fellow Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer finished 13th and 39th, respectively. Bowyer's No. 07 machine got away from him on lap 82 and, even though it suffered rear-end damage, Mr. Jack's Crew was able to get the third-year driver back on track to pick up a few spots.

Next weekend, Burton and the AT&T Racing team head for the Irish Hills for the first of two stops at Michigan International Speedway. Live coverage of the LifeLock 400 will be televised on TNT Sunday, June 15 beginning at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 14th race on the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be telecast live on SPEED June 13 at 3 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates.

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