Race 2 Win: Dodge Charger 500 - Jeff Burton Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Dodge Charger 500 - Jeff Burton Notes

Jeff Burton
No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Dodge Charger 500 – May 7, 2005
Venue: Darlington Raceway – Darlington, S.C.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Darlington Raceway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 115 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable, which finished 12th earlier this season at Texas.

Josh Yost, Injured Jackman Update … Following a pit road accident at Talladega Superspeedway last week, Team Cingular jackman Josh Yost underwent exploratory surgery to his right ankle Tuesday at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C. His injuries were found to include two torn tendons, extensive ligament damage, a severe laceration and a crushed fibula tip, which was not found on the original x-rays. He will remain in the hospital and have reconstructive surgery later in the week. Curt Bowman will fill in for Yost as Team Cingular jackman this weekend in Darlington.

Stat Facts …

In 22 starts at Darlington Raceway, Burton has posted two wins, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, with only one DNF and two finishes outside the top-20.

Burton has earned 14 top-15 finishes in his last 16 starts at the track

In 21 Busch starts at Darlington, Burton has posted four wins, nine top-five, 13 top-10 finishes and two poles

Back-to-Back winner, the Rain King … Burton won both races at Darlington Raceway in 1999, leading both events as the rains began to fall and NASCAR called the races.

Busch Whacker … Burton will drive the No. 21 Reese’s Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Busch Series event at Darlington Raceway.

Testing, 1,2,3 … Burton and Team Cingular tested Richmond International Raceway on Tuesday, May 3 in preparation for the May 14 Chevy American Revolution 400.

Cameo Role … Burton made a cameo appearance as himself on an episode of The WB’s ‘One Tree Hill’ which aired Tuesday, May 3 at 9 p.m. EDT.

Derby Day … Prior to the Dodge Charger 500, team owner Richard Childress and his wife Judy will attend the Kentucky Derby as guests of Jack Daniel's. Immediately following the event, Childress will fly to Darlington for the race.

Up to Speed …The Dodge Charger 500 at Darlington Raceway will be televised live Saturday, May 7 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on FOX and be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 10th of 36 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events will air live on SPEED Friday, May 6 at 6 p.m. EDT and will also be broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
You are running both races this weekend in Darlington and have had great success in both series at the track. What is your key to success at Darlington? “I like the race track, number one. To me, it’s the most historic track we race. I have a lot of reverence for the things that have gone on at Darlington. It’s a lot of fun. You can be real aggressive and drive every lap hard, but you have to be smooth. That seems to fit my driving style and the type of track where I have the most success.”

About running under the lights at Darlington … “I think it’s going to be really neat. Racing at night at Darlington is going to be really cool. From the fans standpoint, the vision you’ll get under the lights will be really neat because they’ll see all the sparks and action that wouldn’t normally be seen in a day race. I think the track itself will have the most grip there that we have ever had. That track has way more grip when it’s cool than when it’s hot and this will obviously be the coolest, darkest conditions we’ve ever run on at Darlington. I think that will have a major impact and make the competition tighter because the easier it is to make your car handle, the more teams can handle well. I think it will actually improve the racing, which is hard to do at Darlington since the racing there has been incredible. But I think it will have a positive impact on the race.

Darlington is such a big part of the history of NASCAR. Does the difficulty level at Darlington add to the excitement level? “It certainly does for me. We don’t go to Darlington because it pays the most money, we don’t go to Darlington because it’s the prettiest place with the best garages and real nice suites, we go to Darlington because it’s a race track, a real race track. Darlington is what racing ought to be. It’s almost like stepping back in time a little bit. There is a race track there, but the amenities aren’t up to what some of the new tracks offer. The focus is more on the race track and not on all the other stuff. I think that is cool. Now that we’ve brought lights in, it brings that more into play. Now you get the whole tailgating atmosphere for the fans. For the teams, night racing is where we came from, what we always did. So, it’s almost like we are going even further back in time like they used to run in the 60’s and I think that’s pretty cool.”

At this point, what is the goal to make it into the Chase for the Championship? “We’ve got to do what we’ve done the last few weeks and that is finish where we were running. We can’t give up spots, be it for wrecks or mechanical issues or not running well at the end of the race, we can’t do that if we are going to make the top-10. If we can run as well as we’ve run the last few weeks and get the things we deserve, we will make the top-10, there is no doubt in my mind we will make the top-10, but that is what we have to do. So our focus is continuing to improve our team and our performance in addition to not giving anything up.”

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