Race 2 Win: Hershey's Kissables 300

NASCAR Busch Series

Hershey's Kissables 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: Hershey’s Kissables 300 – March 18, 2006
Venue: Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Daytona International Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 054 from the Richard Childress Racing stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same U.S. Coast Guard Monte Carlo tested at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) Jan. 20-22.

RCR at Daytona … In 21 previous Busch Series races at DIS, RCR has posted one win (Earnhardt Jr. 2002), one pole (Harvick 2005), 11 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also led 184 laps and have an average starting position of 6.62.

Burton at Daytona … For the first time in six years, Jeff Burton will pilot a NASCAR Busch Series car at DIS. He has two top-10 finishes in seven Busch Series starts. His one DIS victory came under the lights in the 2000 Pepsi 400 NASCAR Cup Series race.

Double Duty … Burton will also race the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet in the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at DIS on Sunday, February 19. In addition to his duties in the Coast Guard Chevrolet, Burton will also race for a championship in the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series.

No. 21’s New Look … Richard Childress Racing announced in January that the United States Coast Guard would be the primary sponsor of its No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS driven by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Harvick will compete in 30 races, while Burton will compete in the remaining five events.

Testing 1, 2, 3 … Jeff Burton and the U.S. Coast Guard team tested at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 20-22. Burton registered the fasted time during the third day of testing.

Did you Know … Burton has 20 wins in the NASCAR Busch Series, ranking him eighth all-time for total number of wins.

Meet the Driver … Fans can see Burton live on the Chevy Stage, Feb. 19 at 10:30 a.m., located in the merchandise area outside turn four at DIS. Burton will be part of a question and answer session hosted by Chevrolet.

Sign Here … Burton will sign autographs at the Cingular Wireless store located in front of the Volusia County Mall from 5-7 p.m. Fri., Feb. 17. In addition, fans can win give-away items, courtesy of Cingular Wireless.

Up to Speed … The Hershey’s Kissables 300 at DIS will be televised live Saturday, February 18 beginning at 1p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on TNT. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio will also carry the race broadcast live. Qualifying for the Hershey’s Kissables 300 will air live on SPEED Friday, February 12 beginning at 3:05 p.m. EST.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
What does it mean to run a handful of races for the U.S. Coast Guard?
“Well, I feel extremely honored. I didn’t realize how much the Coast Guard did for us until I did a little research. They do so much to protect our country from terrorism, drugs and so many other things. They are the smallest of our five Armed Forces here in the United States and they produce such great results. I read somewhere that they save 15 lives and conduct 90 search and rescue cases per day… can you imagine? This season, I am racing for the Coast Guard men and women who keep America safe. I just hope I can bring success to the program.”

When was the first time you walked into Daytona International Speedway? What were you thoughts when you first saw the track?
“The first time I went to Dayton was when we were kids and flew down to Daytona the morning of the Daytona 500. My dad had a friend who had a little airplane and we flew into the airport right here next to the track. We walked over to the track and watched the race. We had pretty bad seats. You could watch them coming off turn four and going through the tri-oval and that was about it. This was before they had all the rules, so my brothers and I would go and put our faces right up on the chicken-wire fence. The cars would go by us at 200 mph and I tell you what, the smell and the seeing that was just incredible. I can’t believe my dad let me stand there with the cars going by, but he did. What a sight and just one hell of an experience it was being able to see that, it was unbelievable. That was my first experience at Daytona and something I will never forget.”

What kind of guy is Richard Childress?
“Well, first of all, he’s honest, so if he tells you something, you can take it to the bank. He’s straightforward, maybe too nice sometimes, to the point that some people take advantage of him, but he’s a very nice person. The things that I admire the most about Richard Childress are his honesty and desire to be competitive. He has a tremendous work ethic. He puts in an enormous amount of hours at the shop trying to improve the company and I have a lot of admiration for that. He puts in more hours than any other car owner that I am aware of, I mean, he is there every day, every minute that he can be. He is very committed to getting this program back to being successful, then staying there. Richard has a great intensity. He will not accept mediocrity; he wants to win to win every week.”

What is it like to work for Richard Childress?
“I have certainly enjoyed my time at Childress so far. There have been a lot of changes that have taken place in the time I have been here. It’s really fun to see Richard so excited about racing and willing to do what it takes to get RCR back to where it needs to be. He has been wonderful about understanding that we weren’t where we needed to be and then going out and setting the plan to try to get us there. I think you’ll see that on the racetrack this season. Our engine program has come a long way, our aero program has come a long way, our chassis program has come a long way, engineering, just every program has been improved.”