Jeff Burton
No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: GFS Marketplace 400 – August 20, 2006
Venue: Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, Mich.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at Michigan International Speedway … Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 173 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same Cingular Chevrolet Burton drove to a sixth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, ninth-place finishes in both races at Pocono and a runner-up effort at Chicagoland.
Stat Facts … In 25 starts at Michigan, Burton has earned one pole, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes. In addition, the South Boston, Va., native has been running at the finish in each of his 25 starts at MIS.
Comparing Stats … Following 22 starts and leading into Michigan’s second race of 2006, Burton and Team Cingular are sitting fourth in the points with three poles, four top-five and 13 top-ten finishes. By comparison, last season at this time, Burton was 22nd in points with one top five and two top 10s.
Racking ‘em up … Burton’s 11th-place finish at Watkins Glen extended his streak of consecutive top-15 finishes to 16 races. The run includes two poles, three top-five and 11 top-10 efforts.
RCR at Michigan … RCR team owner Richard Childress has earned two wins at MIS, both of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt snagged the checkered flag in the Miller American 400 on June 28, 1987 and again in the Miller Genuine Draft 400 on June 24, 1990. Additionally, RCR boasts 15 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers including Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, who recorded top 10s at Michigan in June of 1978 and in August of 1979.
Double Duty … Burton returns to the seat of the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for this weekend’s CARFAX 250 NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race at MIS Saturday, August 19. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 2:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. In addition, Burton’s Team Cingular pit crew will be on hand to pit the Holiday Inn Chevrolet
Up to Speed … The GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway will be televised live Sunday, August 20, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on TNT and be broadcast live on the MRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 23rd of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will air live on SPEED Friday, August 18 at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will also be broadcast on MRN and XM Satellite Radio.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES –
Team Cingular finished 11th in the first race at Michigan this season, which was rain-shortened. Did you learn anything that you can use this time around?
“We did a little bit of experimenting when we went to Michigan the first time. We took a different car, something we felt really good about. We didn’t perform quite as well as we had earlier at the other tracks that size so we’re going back with something different this time. We felt good about our Michigan race, we just weren’t as competitive as we were with our other stuff. We used Michigan as a track to try and test something that was a little different and we learned something. Even though we didn’t run as well as we’d been running on the intermediate tracks, we still finished 11th. We learned something that we can apply going back this time and for a lot of the other race tracks coming up on the schedule. I feel good about going to Michigan. The intermediate program is where we suffered last year so we really put a lot of emphasis into it this season. So far, we’ve run really well on those race tracks. Hopefully, we can do that again.”
Michigan is such a wide race track, what does the extra room allow you to do?
“It just gives the drivers options. When you aren’t forced to run just one lane, it allows the drivers to try other lanes. You can’t get stuck in one groove, you’ve got to understand there are options. At the end of the day that is a good thing. It enables you to change your line to get around somebody. It’s also easy to find your fast line and focus on that line. You’ve got to remain open to other options to make sure your car can run in other lanes.”
