Jeff Burton finds himself this season in perhaps one of the best situations of his career to compete for a Nextel Cup Series championship.

With five races remaining to qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Burton is third in points entering Sunday’s AMD at the Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Burton’s 174-point cushion over 11th place – the top 10 are guaranteed a spot in the Chase field – virtually assures his inclusion in NASCAR’s postseason absent a complete meltdown by his Richard Childress Racing team.

An opportunity to run for the championship would continue RCR’s resurgence as the team hasn’t had a driver qualify for the Chase in its first two seasons. It could also mark a career turning point for Burton.

The 39-year-old native of South Boston, Va., has 17 Cup wins in his career, but hasn’t visited Victory Lane since the 2001 season. Having failed to finish no better than 12th in points over the past four seasons, Burton has enjoyed this season’s resurrection.

The only thing missing in his turnaround this season is a win.

Even that isn’t all that important. A victory certainly isn’t required to qualify for the Chase, or even to win the championship.

Jeff Burton is in third place in the 2006 Nextel Cup Series points standings.

“You don’t have to win to get in but obviously the goal of every team is to (go to) every race track to win. That is why I say we aren’t as good as we need to be,” Burton said.

“When we are good, someone is always a little better. We have to find a way to step it up so when we are at our best, no one else is better. We haven’t done that yet.

“In my eyes, we need to improve, we need to continue to improve and we need to use these races to do that, and the only way to do that is to go out there and run hard and try to beat everybody.”

Burton does not appear overly concerned about the lack of a victory. He is more impressed with his team’s ability to put him in position to win on a weekly basis.

“That’s how you win races in this sport, is you continually knock on the top five. You continually knock on the top 10. You do those things, and you catch a day when it’s right,” Burton said.

“Rarely in this sport do you see people that run, you know, 15th, 20th, win a race. It’s about continuing to put yourself in position. We just continue to do that; our days will come.”

Burton’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick is also deeply immersed in the championship race, yet he owns a victory earlier this season at Phoenix.

Harvick, however, doesn’t think the victory amounts to much difference between the teams.

“Jeff has been really consistent week in and week out to make things happen. Those guys have been solid; we have been solid. It is just a matter of continuing to make those things happen,” Harvick said.

“That is going to be the hard part. But I think both teams are solid, and all three teams are communicating well. The drivers get along and communicate well, as well do the crew chiefs; they are all on the same page.

“That is the thing we have to keep going to keep the success up.”

From team owner Richard Childress to the drivers of his Cup teams, all of RCR seems to have enjoyed a resurgence of success.

Personally for Burton, there is satisfaction in the return to the championship-contender status he once enjoyed several years ago.

“Honestly it feels good, but at the same time, I am always looking at the next race. I really don’t look at what we did three weeks ago. As a matter of fact, if you asked me where we raced four weeks ago, I would have to go look at a calendar,” he said.