Jeff Burton
No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Golden Corral 500 – March 19, 2006
Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car Atlanta Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 164 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for the 2006 season, this is the same Cingular Chevrolet Burton drove to one top-five and two top-10 finishes already this season at California (started sixth, finished fifth), Las Vegas (started eighth, finished seventh).
Stat Facts … In 23 starts at AMS, Burton boasts five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
Double Duty … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, Burton, a 20-time race winner in the NASCAR Busch Series, will drive RCR’s No. 21 Coast Guard Chevrolet in the Nicorette 300 Saturday, March 18. The race will air live on FX beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Featured Speaker … On behalf of Cingular Wireless, Burton will be a featured speaker at the Atlanta Sports Council luncheon Thursday, March 16 at 11:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Atlanta. Other speakers include NASCAR President Mike Helton, Speedway Motorsports Chairman and CEO Burton Smith and FOX sports racing analyst Larry McReynolds.
Politically Correct … Jeff Burton will join Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, Georgia House Representative Mike Barnes, Georgia State Senator John Douglas, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chairman and CEO O. Bruton Smith and AMS President Ed Clark at the Fourth Annual Georgia Motorsports Day at the Georgia State Capitol Thursday, March 16. Burton will speak during the 10 a.m. press conference on the importance of sponsorship in NASCAR and also take the opportunity to present Governor Perdue with a Team Cingular crew shirt.
Media Alert … Richard Childress Racing and driver Jeff Burton have scheduled a press conference Friday, March 17 at 5:45 p.m. in the media center at Atlanta Motor Speedway to announce a new partnership for the 2006 season.
A Week in the Life of Burton … Cingular driver Jeff Burton will have his busy week leading into the Golden Corral 500 race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway documented for ‘7 Days’, a new program on SPEED. The cameras will join Burton as he hosts television programs, participates in team meetings, works out with his trainer, meets the Governor of Georgia, speaks at a luncheon, holds a press conference at the track and visits sponsor guests at hospitality, in addition to his on-track activities surrounding the Golden Corral 500. Burton’s 7 Days program will be aired Monday, March 20 at 8 p.m. on SPEED.
Up to Speed … The Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, March 19 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on FOX and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fourth of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 7 p.m. EST Friday, March 17 and will be telecast live on SPEED.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
A lot of improvement has been made to the intermediate program at RCR. Does that bode well for Atlanta?
“Atlanta’s been a place where we’ve run well since I’ve come over to RCR. I do think that our better engine program and our better aero program so improve our performance even more. I’ve been really excited about our cars at every track we’ve gone to so far this year. I thought we had great chances going into all of the races and we think Atlanta will be the same way for Team Cingular. “
Can Atlanta be two different tracks in the same race weekend from qualifying to race?
“It’s so different. Atlanta loses so much grip in the race, but it’s a really fun racetrack. You can run on the top or the bottom. Qualifying in kind of a ‘close your eyes and hope for the best kind of lap’, but in the race it is really important to handle well and it’s a lot of fun. “
Is passing easier at Atlanta than other tracks?
“Well, there are a lot of passing options at Atlanta because the racetrack is so wide. You can right up by the wall, right along the white line at the bottom or anywhere in between. It is one of those places where if a guy is running the same line as you, it can be difficult to pass because you are going so fast that it messes up the aerodynamics. There are a lot of options that are presented to a driver. If you have a fast car you can make your way to the front and do what you need to do.”
Do you go too fast at Atlanta?
“I don’t think so. I think the qualifying speeds are close to being too fast, but I think the race speed is really good. The race pace falls off a lot from qualifying and I don’t think the speed in race trim is too high by any means.”
