Transmission heartbreak for Burton in Pocono.

Ward Burton looked set to score his best result of the year and the best ever for his second year Hass CNC Racing outfit in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway before a late race transmission failure ended their day.

After starting 27th, Burton's #0 NetZero Chevrolet reaped the benefits of having new crew-chief Bill Ingle on board, and by lap 150 of 200, the quietly spoken Virginian was looking set to better his ninth place effort for Gene Haas' team earlier this year at the North Carolina Speedway. However, while running third behind eventual winner Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin on lap 160, it all went horribly wrong.

At the start of the race, Burton took the green flag and immediately began to make his way toward the front of the field while communicating to Ingle that the car was tight. Ingle made plans to make track bar and air pressure adjustments during the pit stop, which came on lap 31.

Burton held down the 20th spot when the caution flag flew for the first time, which enabled Ingle and the NetZero crew another opportunity to adjust the ill-handling car. Ingle and the team made changes to the car throughout the early stages of the race and by Lap 64 Burton's Chevrolet had broken into the Top 10.

The team continued to adjust on the car during every possible opportunity and Burton was running in the 16th spot when Ingle made the decision to take on only two new tyres during the next stop in an effort to gain track position.

The gamble paid off and after taking on two fresh right side tyres and filling the tank with fuel, the crew, who put together quick stops all day, sent him back to the track in fifth. Burton worked his way up to third on lap 126.

Holding down third comfortably for more than 30 laps, a top five finish at least was a realistic possibility until Burton relayed to his crew that there was a vibration in the rear end of the car just passed three quarters distance.

Several laps later, Burton spun going into turn one as his transmission locked solid, but luckily, did not make contact with another vehicle or the wall. Burton's machine had to be pushed back to pit road and the crew went to work to diagnose the problem before pushing him into the garage area and removing the transmission.

Hoping to collect important championship points, the crew did their best to make the car drivable, but after only taking one additional lap around the track, Burton discovered the problem to be terminal and drove the car back into the garage to be loaded on the hauler.

After his best showing of the year, Burton was credited with a 31st place finish and dropped one place to 27th in the overall Nextel Cup standings.

"We're making progress," said Burton. "This is a huge disappointment, but at the same time it shows that we're getting closer to putting the pieces together, and that numbs the pain a little.

"The NetZero Racing crew had great pit stops all day; Bill made good adjustments to the car and made a great strategy call to get us up front. Every change we made today helped the car.

"Everybody did a great job; we just have to make sure that we last all day. This was a good effort though, and I'm proud of this team. I'm really looking forward to seeing how much more we can improve over the next couple of weeks."