Daytona 500 - Ward Burton Notes

Ward Burton will make his 322nd NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start when the green flag drops for the 2004 Daytona 500. One of Burton’s five career victories came in the 2002 Daytona 500, and this will be the 10th time Burton has competed in the season opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

BURTON ON DAYTONA…”The name of the game in Daytona is survival. It’s almost as important to be lucky as it is good. You’ve got to be around at the end and the name of the game is missing the big one. It doesn’t matter if you’re running speeds of 190 miles an hour in a racecar or 7 miles per hour on a bicycle, if you put that many vehicles around each other for that long, somebody’s bound to make a mistake. I don’t care how good the drivers or the cyclists are, it’s going to happen eventually.

“The NetZero HiSpeed Chevrolet was good in the draft during the test, but we weren’t happy with the way we ran during our qualifying runs. Tony Furr and the guys went back to the shop and made a bunch of changes to the car and then we went to Talladega (Ala.) to test it out. Their hard work paid off big and that Talladega test was one of the best tests I’ve ever had.”

On Winning the 2002 Daytona 500…”After we won it was a whirlwind week for sure. We went to New York City and did so much stuff I can’t even tell you what it was anymore. New York’s an interesting city – not really my style, but I’d go back in a heartbeat if I could win again.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

The Haas CNC Racing team opted to bring back the car that was tested in Daytona during PreSeason Thunder in January under the number 0a. This Chevrolet Monte Carlo, chassis No.008, was also tested at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in January.

While the majority of the Haas CNC Racing crew remains the same as late last season, the team has a new car chief. Dave Skog took over the duties shortly after the end of the 2003 season, previously handling car chief duties for Richard Childress Racing’s No. 30 Chevrolet. Another new addition is Brad Tunny who will handle interior duties for the team. Tunny previously worked at Petty Enterprises as a tire specialist. Donnie (Fatboy) Epling also takes over spotting duties this year.

In addition to testing its new Chevrolet Monte Carlo in Daytona and Talladega during the off-season, the team spent time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Burton, who is competing in his 10th Daytona 500, has never started outside of the Top 21. In addition, with the help of his 2002 victory, Burton has earned over $2.3 million in his career in the season opening race alone at DIS and has three Top-10 finishes to his credit.

Obviously accustomed to being behind the wheel of a racecar, Burton spent several days in the past week getting comfortable behind TV cameras as well. Burton traveled to the Los Angeles area following his two-day test in Las Vegas to shoot a commercial for NetZero HiSpeed, and spent the following Tuesday filming a spot for Virginia state parks.

Though the Haas CNC Racing team worked a rigorous schedule consisting of 7am-7pm days with few days off during the off-season, two members of the NetZero Racing team managed to find time to take a trip down the aisle. Mechanic and catch can man Derrick Jennings married Shelley in December, and Bobby Burrell, who handles front tire changing duties on the No.0 Chevrolet, married Noel.