Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

O’Reilly 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: O’Reilly 300 – April 5, 2008
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway – Ft. Worth, Texas

NOTES:

This Week’s Holiday Inn Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 061 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable in this weekend’s O’Reilly 300. This is the same Holiday Inn Chevrolet Burton drove to Victory Lane in March 2007 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). Burton also raced this No. 29 Chevy last season to a fourth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway, to a third-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway, a 19th-place finish at Dover International Speedway in June, a fourth-place finish at Darlington Raceway in May and a 10th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Earlier this season, Burton finished 24th at LVMS after an engine-related issue sent the No. 29 Chevy to garage before the end of the race.

Climbing the Charts … Based on Scott Wimmer’s win two weeks ago at Nashville Superspeedway, the No. 29 team jumped from seventh to fourth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) owners’ championship point standings and sits 49 points behind the leader. In six races this season, the potent duo of Burton and Wimmer have earned one victory, two top-five and three top-10 finishes.

Every Last Drop … Wimmer had less than a half gallon of fuel remaining in his 18-gallon tank when he drove his Holiday Inn Chevrolet to Victory Lane at Nashville.

Burton in the Loop at Texas …

Lone Star State Stats … Burton finished third in his first NNS race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in 1997. He has four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and has been running at the end of each of his 12 NNS starts at TMS. Consistency has been the key for Burton at Texas – he has completed 100 percent of laps contested and has yet to finish outside the top 10.

Fast in the Fort … According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Burton sits fifth in the Green Flag Speed category. The 27-time NNS winner has an average lap of 175.522 mph at the mile-and-a-half oval.

Back that Stat Up … Burton is second the NNS Average Running Position category (6.305) and is currently the series’ fourth-best Quality Passer (22.5) – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved while running in the top-15 during green-flag conditions. Also, he is second in the Driver Rating category (109.8). 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.

RCR Nationwide Cars at Texas … In 24 NNS starts at TMS, RCR boasts one pole (Jeff Green – April 2002), four wins (Kevin Harvick, March 2001, April 2006, Nov. 2006 and Nov. 2007), seven top fives and 15 top 10s. RCR-prepared race cars have also led 545 laps at the mile-and-half Fort Worth racing complex.

Six Races, Two Wins … In six NNS races this season, RCR-prepared Nationwide Series entries have notched two wins (Clint Bowyer – Bristol, Wimmer – Nashville), six top-five and nine top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also led 265 of the 1,066 (24.8 percent) of the totals laps run this season.

Double Down in the Big D … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet, Burton, a 20-time race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, will drive RCR’s No. 31 Prilosec OTC Chevrolet in the April 6 Samsung 500. The race will air live on Fox beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and can also be heard on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Help Chevy Help Autism … During April – Autism Awareness Month – people who go to the Autism Speaks website (www.autismspeaks.org ), can click on the “Help Chevy Help Autism” icon and take a free virtual test drive of the 2008 North American Car of the Year – the all-new Chevy Malibu. Chevrolet has committed to a minimum contribution of $500,000, but every virtual test drive taken gets Chevrolet closer to its goal of donating up to $1 million to Autism Speaks to support its mission of increasing awareness of autism and raising money to fund autism research. Those who participate in the virtual test drive will be offered a free 30-day online trial of XM Satellite Radio.

Catch the Action … Live coverage of the O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised on ESPN2 Saturday, April 5 beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Your Holiday Inn Racing teammate got his first win for RCR two weeks ago in Nashville. What does that mean for the team?
“It was awesome to see Scott win. He has done a really good job for the organization both in the Nationwide car and helping out in testing on the Cup side. He has put himself in position to win so many times and he didn’t just fall into this one. He beat (Kyle) Busch and he beat some other really good drivers so that was really neat to see. We know we need to keep improving but this win was good for us. ”

You and Scott are competing for the owners’ championship again this year. Who do you feel is your competition?
“From Carl’s (Edwards) standpoint, he won the drivers’ championship but not the owners’ and that is a tough pill to swallow. It is almost like he has some unfinished business this year. We know that he is motivated to get both and we know that the Gibbs cars are strong. It is going to be a tough battle. We take a lot of pride in being in a position to win the owners’ championship for Richard (Childress). Scott (Wimmer) and I know that we can’t win an individual championship but it’s our goal to win championships and the only way to do that is to win the owners’ championship.”

You have been strong at Texas in the Nationwide Series and have never finished outside the top 10 in 11 starts but the win still eludes you. Why do you think that is?
“I don’t know. We have been in position but things haven’t fallen our way. It’s one of those tracks that we have been really good on. RCR’s mile-and-a-half program has been our strength. Scott (Wimmer) seems to do better on the shorter tracks than what I have been able to do and I seem to do better on the bigger tracks. Texas falls into the bigger track category. I am taking my favorite Holiday Inn Chevy to Texas and I feel good about it.”

How do you feel about this weekend’s Nationwide race?
“I really like Texas and it is going to be fast this year with the Nationwide car. Depending on the tire they bring, we could run wide open in race configuration. The corner speed is going to be crazy fast and that is going to make the race a little bit different.”