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2005 Season Final Points Standing 18th After First 26 Races 21st Earnings $4,815,924 Starts 36 Poles 0 Wins 0 Top 5 3 6-10 3 Laps Led 7 Lead Lap Finishes 22 Bonus Points 10 Races Led 2

2005 Performance Below is the ranking of the team on each type of track along with the driver's best finish. Track Type Ranking Flat Tracks 16th Best Finish 3rd, Phoenix Intermediate Tracks 18th Best Finish 8th, Atlanta Plate Tracks 21st Best Finish 10th, Talladega Road Courses 39th Best Finish 30th, Infineon Short Tracks 11th Best Finish 2nd, Bristol

Burton and the Cingular crew limped through a subpar season in '05, recording only three top 5s and six top 10s. Whether the chemistry never developed or the equipment wasn't up to the task, the team as a whole was rarely competitive.

Most of the better runs came on the smaller tracks — at flat one-mile ovals like New Hampshire and Phoenix and on the half-mile bullring at Bristol. It's at places such as these that man matters more than machine. Make no mistake — the car has to perform, but a driver can make up for certain deficiencies if he knows how to hustle a car around the track.

The '06 season may resemble last year. The team should show up at the smaller tracks and may be in contention at the plate races, where dancing partners play into the equation. Expect a mirror of last season, as there has been no evidence of a turnaround.

A three-race stretch at Texas, Phoenix and Talladega netted him 12th-, third- and 10th-place runs. However, a lack of bonus points was starting to sting in the standings, as the team was stuck in the 17th-18th range.

Another small streak of three top 12s in five races helped the mood, but not the standing.

It would be at Bristol, seven races later, that the Cingular team would once again show some fire. A runner-up finish to Matt Kenseth, on a night no one could touch the DeWalt Ford, was huge.

But three top 10s in the season's final 12 events failed to impress, and the team's final tallies of no wins, six top 10s and an 18th in the standings were disappointing.

• The Good: Burton had everyone in the field covered at Bristol — except for Matt Kenseth. He drove home second for his best finish of the season.

• The Bad: Burton led only seven laps in two races on the season. Most thought that he would prosper at Richard Childress, but leading in only two races is embarrassing for this caliber of driver and team.

• The Ugly: While running by himself at Watkins Glen, Burton lost the handle and trashed the car. He ended the day in 43rd, after completing only 31 laps. The crash dropped him from 18th to 22nd in the standings after 22 races.