Jeff Burton
No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Checker Auto Parts 500 – November 12, 2006
Venue: Phoenix International Raceway – Avondale, Ariz.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car Phoenix International Raceway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 175 from the Richard Childress Racing stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Burton drove to a ninth-place finish at Richmond International Speedway in September to secure his position in The Chase and to a seventh-place finish at New Hampshire International Speedway in July. Most recently, an expired engine resulted in a 42nd-place finish at Martinsville.
Stat Facts … In 14 starts at PIR, Jeff Burton boasts two wins, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes to go along with his Busch Series victory in 2000 at the track. In addition, Burton has finished on the lead lap in all but one of his 14 starts at the one-mile desert oval.
Right Mix at Phoenix … Since joining Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in August 2004, Burton has run four races at PIR, garnering a 9.5 average finish with one top-five, two top-10 and four top-15 finishes.
RCR at PIR … In 39 races at Phoenix, RCR has earned two wins including Kevin Harvick’s first win of 2006 at PIR in April. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won the Checker 500 on November 4, 1990. Additionally, RCR boasts nine top-five and 15 top-10 finishes at the one-mile desert-oval.
TXT Congrats 2 Jeff Burton … Cingular customers have an opportunity to say “congratulations” to Jeff Burton and wish him well in his quest to win the Cup. Fans can send a personal text message to “JB31” (5-2-3-1) from their Cingular wireless phone with a congratulatory message for Burton until Nov. 30 in Cingular’s “TXT Congrats 2 Jeff Burton” campaign. Burton will get a chance to review all of text messages received, and at the end of the season, participating fans will receive a response back from the 18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. Cingular is looking to make racing history by creating the largest organized text message appreciation program in racing history. The “TXT Congrats 2 Jeff Burton” campaign kicked off prior to the Atlanta race, and continues through Champions Week in New York City when all 10 Chase for the Cup drivers will be honored.
Up to Speed … Live coverage of the Checker Auto Parts 500 from Phoenix International Raceway will take the green flag Sunday, November 12 beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST and will be televised live on NBC. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the second-to-last NASCAR Cup Series race on the 2006 schedule will air live on SPEED, MRN and XM Satellite Radio Friday, November 10 at 5 p.m. EST.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Are you glad you are going back to Phoenix and don’t have to answer the questions of it being the fifth anniversary of your last win since you won earlier this season at Dover?
“Well, I hadn’t thought about it but yes, I am certainly glad about it. Now I’ll probably get asked ‘Why haven’t you won at Phoenix lately?’. Phoenix is a track that has been very good to me over the years and as well to RCR. In the spring race, Harvick won, Bowyer finished fifth and we finished ninth, so we had all three RCR cars in the top 10. I’m really looking forward to Phoenix. I think we’ve really hit on something with our short track program. Team Cingular ran very well at Richmond and very well at New Hampshire and I think that can roll over into Phoenix.”
Why is it that you’ve always run well at Phoenix?
“I don’t know why. I really like Phoenix; it’s a lot of fun. It’s kind of a mix between a short track and an intermediate track. The track has good speed but it also becomes really slick so handling becomes a premium. It’s a really good mixture of a big track and a small track.”
