JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
What are your thoughts on heading to Martinsville, the last short track race of the season?
“I really like Martinsville and enjoy racing there. It’s fun. I think it’s a throwback to what racing was and what it ought to be. It’s good tough, side-by-side racing. It’s a long day. I think physically it’s the toughest track on the drivers that we go to. Inside those cars it’s really hot with a lot of carbon monoxide exposure. You’re always up on somebody and somebody is always up on you at Martinsville. It’s one of the hardest places we race all year, but you have fun.

It’s been said that in some ways Martinsville is like Talladega. The cars are always running so close, side-by-side and if you pushed up out of the groove, you’re going to lose a ton of positions. What do you think?
“Martinsville Speedway has changed since they ground their racetrack. Really now the middle has come in to now be the preferred groove, which is really unusual for Martinsville. But, I think it is much like Talladega in that when you are out of the groove, there is no fighting it. It is a hard race, though. You have to have good brakes and you have to use the brakes. I mean, there is this thing about saving brakes at Martinsville, but you can only save your brakes if you are really fast and can just ride around and not get on them and use them really hard. I don’t believe there are that many that can do that, though. You have to have a braking system that is really good. The driver can’t make mistakes, which is real easy to do there. Everything has to go your way.”