NASCAR ROUNDUP NEWS AND NOTES

NASCAR ROUNDUP News and notes
Burton wins pole: Jeff Burton figured that if he kept qualifying well, eventually he'd win another pole. He did that Friday, taking the top spot for Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway with a lap of 181.647 mph. Now he hopes the same logic applies to getting back to Victory Lane. "Qualifying is like racing," Burton said. "If you continue to qualify well, you'll eventually get your poles. Same with racing: If you continue to race well, you'll eventually get your wins." Brian Vickers qualified second Friday, followed by Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson. Last year's Chicagoland winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will start 25th.
Mayfield sounds unhappy: Jeremy Mayfield isn't happy with the way his team is performing this year. And he doesn't seem to think team owner Ray Evernham is taking enough of a hands-on approach to fixing what's wrong. "I haven't talked to Ray much," Mayfield said Friday morning. "We don't see Ray much. I don't know. He encourages us when he is around but we haven't seen him much lately." Mayfield said he is surprised that Evernham -- who has been known for his intense, innovative management style since winning three championships as Jeff Gordon's crew chief -- hasn't been at the track. "He used to be on top of stuff like this pretty hot and heavy and he's letting it take its course, I guess," Mayfield said.
Suggestion box: A week after NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said he is considering changes to the playoff-style Chase for the Nextel Cup championship format, veteran Mark Martin said he would like to see NASCAR establish a separate points system for the championship-eligible drivers in the final 10 races. "If it's about entertainment, that would make entertainment," Martin said. "That way you couldn't get buried because you finished 43rd in a race." But Martin doesn't want to see NASCAR expand the Chase field. Under the current system, only the top 10 drivers in points and any driver within 400 points of the leader with 10 races to go become eligible to race for the championship. "I think that's enough," he said. "If there's more than 10 guys, where do you cut it off?"
Associated Press
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