JEFF BURTON NEWS AND NOTES - NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Source: Richard Childress Racing
Date: 09/09/2008

* This Week’s AT&T Chevrolet at New Hampshire Motor Speedway …

Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 204 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Cup Series stable. Built new for the 2008 season, this is the same AT&T Chevy Burton drove to a 12th-place finish, after starting 31st, at NHMS in June.

* Stat Facts … In 27 Cup Series starts at NHMS, Burton boasts

four wins, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and has led 694 laps of competition. He has a 20.5 starting average coupled with a 13.1 finishing average. Additionally, the South Boston, Va., native is one of four drivers who have competed in all 27 NASCAR Cup Series events at the “Magic Mile.”

* Chase it … Burton makes his third consecutive appearance in

NASCAR’s playoff format since its inception in 2004. The South Boston, Va., native has earned one win, four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the season’s opening 26 events. Even though he’s seeded seventh heading into this weekend’s opening round of the Chase for the NASCAR Cup at NHMS, the 41-year-old driver is tied for fourth with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, and Denny Hamlin each being awarded 10 bonus points for winning a race. The 2008 Chase contender is 30 points out of third, 40 out of second and 70 markers behind leader Kyle Busch.

* Three for Three … For the second time since the Chase for the

NASCAR Cup came to be in 2004, all three of RCR’s fulltime NASCAR Cup Series teams have qualified for and will compete in the Chase for the NASCAR Cup. This is RCR’s second consecutive Chase berth with all three drivers vying for the Cup – each time with Burton, Bowyer and Kevin Harvick.

* Media Darling … Burton will join his fellow Chase

participants this week for NASCAR’s media blitz in New York City. The

top-12 drivers will appear on The Late Show with David Letterman on Tues., Sept. 9 then participate in a day long media tour in NYC on Wed., Sept. 10. The AT&T driver is scheduled as a guest on Fox and Friends, Sirius Satellite Radio and a satellite media tour with the Texas media among other appearances.

* Record Holder … Burton seems to know his way around NHMS as

he owns a few track records, including most wins (four), most laps led by a race winner (300 – September 2000), least laps led by a race winner (two – July 1999) and track race record (Time 2:42:35, Speed 117.134 mph – July 1999).

* From the Start … NHMS is the site of Burton’s first NASCAR

Cup Series start on July 11, 1993.

* RCR at NHMS … Richard Childress is tied for fourth all time

with Joe Gibbs for car owner victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with three – Robby Gordon (2001), Harvick (2006) and Bowyer (2007). In

63 starts at the one-mile oval, Childress boasts two poles, 10 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes with nine different drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Mike Skinner, Harvick, Gordon, Jeff Green, Steve Park, Dave Blaney, Bowyer and Burton.

* Meet the Press … Burton will be available inside the NHIS

media center Fri., Sept. 12 at 10:45 a.m. to field questions from the gathered media.

* Catch the Action … The Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor

Speedway will be televised live Sun., Sept. 14 beginning at 1 p.m.

Eastern Daylight Time on ABC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 27th of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 3 p.m. EDT Fri., Sept. 12 and will be telecast live on ESPN2.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:

As you move forward into the Chase, what do you need to do to get back on track?

“There have been some races where we ran well but don’t have the finishes to show for it. We either got involved in a wreck or had penalties that put us back in the field. What I have to do as a driver is to objectively look at where we are versus the competition. We’re a step off of where we need to be in comparison to the very best car. Our results don’t indicate it and the results are the only thing that matters. I believe that we are better than we were six months ago or four months ago. What we have to do is step it up right now. Going into 2006, we were our best in the Chase. We put ourselves in position to win and that’s what we have to do now. We have to perform a little better and we have to execute. We did a great job of executing the first half of the regular season. The last third of the regular season we haven’t executed. We actually ran better, with the exception of California, in the last six or seven races but we haven’t executed as well as we did early on in the season. Once we start executing again, then we have to improve a little bit on our speed.”

You’ve had a lot of success at New Hampshire. How do you approach this weekend’s race as you contend for the season’s championship trophy?

"The track is a lot different and so is the competition. If you look at the way it is today versus eight years ago, it's way more competitive today. There are more good teams that are capable of winning races. At the same time, I certainly have high hopes going there. I’m real comfortable with the race track. However, we haven’t won a race there in years and we haven’t had the success that we need to have there. We’ve tested at similar tracks earlier this season so I’m going into this weekend’s race being optimistic.”

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