Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Nicorette 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

Jeff Burton
No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Nicorette 300 – March 8, 2008
Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga. NOTES:

This Week’s Holiday Inn Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 055 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same Holiday Inn Chevrolet Monte Carlos SS Burton drove to Victory Lane in March 2007 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Burton also raced this No. 29 machine last season to a fourth-place finish in May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Since then, this Holiday Inn Chevy has been outfitted with all the 2008 updates.

Defending Atlanta … Burton is the defending NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). The March 2007 victory was Burton’s second straight win. He is attempting to become the first driver to win three consecutive races at the ultra-fast suburban Atlanta speedway.

Burton in the Loop at Atlanta …

Stat Facts … Burton has earned two victories in five NNS starts at AMS. This weekend’s race is the third of 12 that Burton is scheduled to drive the Holiday Inn Chevrolet.

Smokin’ Fast in Hotlanta … Burton leads all drivers in the Green Flag Speed category. The 27-time NNS winner posted a fast lap of 178.689 mph.

Back that Stat Up … Burton leads the NNS Average Running Position category (3.867) and is currently the series’ 11th-best Quality Passer (24.5) – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved while running in the top-15 during green-flag conditions. Also, he leads the Driver Rating category (133.7). The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum points a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.

Double Duty … In addition to racing the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in Saturday’s NNS race, Burton will drive RCR’s No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet Impala SS in the Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at AMS on Sunday, March 9. The South Boston, Va. native has posted seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 27 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the track.

RCR Nationwide Cars in Atlanta … In 18 NNS starts, dating back to 2000, RCR has earned two wins (Burton – 2006 and 2007), three top-five and seven top-10 finishes with Clint Bowyer, Burton, Kevin Harvick, and Johnny Sauter.

Holiday Inn Hometown … Burton and teammate Scott Wimmer will visit and meet with Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express employees at the company’s Atlanta-based headquarters, InterContinental Hotels Group, on Thursday, March 6.

Catch the Action … The Nicorette 300 at AMS will be televised live on ESPN2 on Saturday, March 8 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The race will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fourth of 35 races on the 2008 Nationwide Series calendar will air live on SPEED the same day beginning at 9 a.m. EST.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Does the sun present any challenges at Atlanta?
“The sun is a huge issue at Atlanta. Entering turn one, you get to where you can’t even see the wall. The visibility is way down and the groove is up by the wall. You are trying to use every inch of the race track but you can’t see it so it creates a huge challenge. As the day goes on, the shade gets on the other part of the track so you have sun shining on part of the track and shade on the other part. That is a huge challenge because temperature makes a huge difference on how these cars drive.”

You tend to run well at Atlanta. Do you think you have a shot to win in the Nationwide race?
“The Holiday Inn Racing team won that race last year and it is always cool to go back and try to defend the win. Actually, we are trying to make it three-in-a-row. We will go there and aggressively try to win the Nationwide race. The more I can race early in the season then the more I can get into the sync of things. I love running Richard’s (car owner Richard Childress) Nationwide car. It has been fast pretty much everywhere we have gone with it and, hopefully, we will have a chance to win.”

You are trying to be the first driver to win three straight Nationwide races at Atlanta. What will it take to do that?
“RCR’s race cars have been really fast. I’ve been able to run them anywhere I’ve wanted to run them and be in the throttle a lot. I thought we had the fastest car last week at Vegas but we’re gonna have to find a way to step it up if we are going to do three in a row. I think the Gibbs cars have shown a lot of speed this season. They go through the corners exceptionally well and they go down the straightaway exceptionally well too. I think they have a little bit of a horsepower advantage over there. When you add that with how well they go through the corners then they’re going to be hard to guard.”