Race 2 Win: Nicorette 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Nicorette 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

Jeff Burton
No. 21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Nicorette 300 – March 18, 2006
Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 037 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable, which recently finished fourth at California Speedway. The car was a No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet last season running at Atlanta (finished 21st), Nashville (finished fifth), Richmond (finished ninth) and Dover (finished 19th) before begin re-skinned during the off-season.

Countdown to 250 … The Nicorette 300 will mark Burton’s 248th-career NASCAR Busch Series start. Over the span, dating back to 1988, Burton has recorded 20 wins, 10 poles, 66 top-five and 110 top-10 finishes. The South Boston, Va., native also boasts just shy of $3 million in career earnings.

Burton Back in the No. 21 … Burton will be making his third NASCAR Busch Series start for Team Coast Guard Racing. Burton’s first start was one month ago at Daytona International Speedway where he finished 30th. He will race two more events behind the wheel of the No. 21 in 2006, bring his total to five races. The South Boston, Va. native, will compete again for the Coast Guard at Texas Motor Speedway in April and Lowes Motor Speedway in October.

Politically Correct … Jeff Burton will join Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, Georgia House Representative Mike Barnes, Georgia State Senator John Douglas, Speedway Motor Speedway Motrosports, Inc. Chairman and CEO. Burton Smith and AMS President Ed Clark at the Fourth Annual Georgia Motorsports Day at the Georgia State Capitol Thursday, March 16. Burton will speak during the 10 a.m. press conference on the importance of sponsorship in NASCAR and also present Governor Perdue with a Team Cingular crew shirt.

Media Alert … Richard Childress Racing and driver Jeff Burton have scheduled a press conference Friday, March 17 at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the media center at Atlanta Motor Speedway to announce a new partnership for the 2006 season.

A Week in the Life of Burton … So you want to be a race car driver? Coast Guard/Cingular Wireless driver Jeff Burton will have his busy week leading into the race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway documented for ‘7 Days’, a new program on SPEED. The cameras will join Burton as he hosts television programs, participate in team meetings, work out with his trainer, meets the Governor of Georgia, speaks at a luncheon, holds a press conference at the track and visits sponsor guests at hospitality, in addition to his on-track activities surrounding the race weekend. Burton’s 7 Days program will be aired Monday, March 20 at 8 p.m. EST on SPEED.

The U.S. Coast Guard … The United States Coast Guard is a military, multi-mission, maritime service and one of the nation’s five Armed Services. Its mission is to protect the public, the environment, and U.S. economic interests – in the nation’s ports and waterways, along the coast, on international waters, or in any maritime region as required to support national security.

Up to Speed … The Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, March 18 beginning at 3:05 p.m. EST on FX. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) will also carry the race broadcast live. Qualifying for the Nicorette 300 will air on SPEED Saturday, March 18 beginning at 1 p.m. EST.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the fastest tracks on the circuit. Is it fun to race there with all of that speed?
“I think Atlanta has the biggest difference from qualifying to racing than anywhere we go. When you drive that car in qualifying, it is so wide open. It’s unbelievable what it feels like. Then, in race trim, it’s just like any other race track. It’s just that you have all of these different grooves. You can run on the top, you can run on the bottom or you can run in the middle. It’s just a lot of fun to race at Atlanta.”

How do you find the right groove to run at Atlanta?
“You’ve got to just keep looking, but most of all you have to be willing to go searching to find that groove that will work for you. Experience teaches you that when your car is reacting a certain way that you can try something different and have faith to try it. The reason we don’t have a lot of multiple grooves at some racetracks is that if you go high you’ll wreck. At Atlanta you have to have faith that the racetrack will hold you. Turns one and two at Atlanta, you run as close to the wall as you do at Darlington. Then turns three and four we still run on the bottom, but it’s just having that faith that the track will hold you.”