Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Kobalt Tools 500 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: Kobalt Tools 500 – March 18, 2007
Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car Atlanta Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 155 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same Cingular Chevrolet Burton drove to a fourth place finish three weeks ago at California Speedway (started eighth). Additionally, this car saw action last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (started fifth, finished 15th).

Burton in the Loop …

Stat Facts … In 25 starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), Burton boasts five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.

Top Rated Driver … Burton moved to the top spot in NASCAR’s Driver Rating after his 15th-place finish at Las Vegas. The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum points a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.

Now that’s Quality … Strong performances by Team Cingular in the first three races definitely show as Burton leads all drivers in the Quality Passes category. Burton has passed 356 cars while running the top-15 under green-flag conditions, 60 more passes than second-place Kyle Busch.

Better than Average … Burton leads all drivers in the Average Running Position category. His average running position of 7.429 is the sum of his positions on each lap divided by the laps run in the race.

Double Duty … In addition to his duties in the No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, Burton, a 23-time race winner in the NASCAR Busch Series, will drive RCR’s No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in the Nicorette 300 Saturday, March 17. This weekend’s race is the third of 18 races that Burton is scheduled to drive the Holiday Inn Chevrolet. The race will air live on ABC beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and can also be heard on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

R07 for RCR … This weekend, RCR will be the first team to utilize Chevrolet’s new R07 motor when Scott Wimmer hits the track with the No. 33 Chevrolet on Friday afternoon. Per NASCAR regulations, the R07 displaces a maximum of 358 cubic inches. In contrast to the SB2’s “mirror port” cylinder heads, the R07’s cylinder heads resemble production LS-series small-block cylinder heads with alternating intake and exhaust valves. While production small-block V-8 engines employ electronic fuel injection, the R07 port layout is optimized for the single four-barrel carburetor mandated by NASCAR. The R07’s key technical advances over the SB2 include 4.500-inch cylinder bore centers (vs. 4.400 inches in the SB2), a raised camshaft that improves valvetrain dynamics, a new six-bolt head bolt pattern that reduces cylinder bore distortion, and a targeted cooling system that minimizes temperatures at critical locations. A cast camshaft tunnel, integral piston squirter galleries, and overhead oil feed galleries reduce engine assembly time. Relocating the fuel pump to the inboard side of the car and eliminating external oil and coolant lines enhance safety. RCR will be the first team in NASCAR’s premiere series to utilize Chevrolet’s new engine combination.

Riding Shotgun … On behalf of Chevrolet, one lucky fan will experience a “shotgun” opportunity with Team Cingular during the Kobalt Tools 500. The ultimate fan experience will include meet and greets with Burton and his crew, along with other RCR drivers, and be a member of the pit crew during Sunday’s race. Applicants must send a short video demonstrating why they think they should be picked to ride shotgun with the Chevy team. For more information about this experience, please visit www.igotshotgun.com.

Heartburn Free Hotlanta – Fan’s Victory of a Lifetime Heads South … Prilosec OTC Victory of a Lifetime Sweepstakes winner Jim Farina continues his ultimate NASCAR Fan’s season at Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Kobalt Tools 500 this weekend. This will be Jim’s fifth race of his 20 race schedule with Team Cingular. Before taking his seat in the grandstands this Sunday, Jim will take a Pre-Race Parade lap with Jeff Burton around Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 1.54 mile oval. This past Sunday, Jim wrapped up an exciting weekend in Sin City at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In addition to attending the race with his brother and sister-in-law, the group also enjoyed a concert with legendary rock guitarist Eric Clapton Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

RCR in the ATL … In 93 NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, RCR has earned four poles and nine wins, including Kevin Harvick’s emotional victory in the Cracker Barrel 500 on March 11, 2001. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Ga., track. Additionally, RCR boasts 23 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes at AMS. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, recorded his best finish at Atlanta with a ninth-place effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on November 2, 1980.

Meet the Driver … Jeff Burton will sign autographs at the Cingular Wireless store located at 2980 Cobb Parkway on Thursday, March 15 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. EDT. In addition, fans can win give-away items, courtesy of Cingular Wireless.

Up to Speed … The Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, March 18 beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT on FOX and will broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fourth of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 7 p.m. EDT Friday, March 16 and will be telecast live on SPEED.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
All the RCR cars ran well at California. As good as the mile-and-a-half program was last year, do you think it’s even better this year?
“It needs to be. We’ve worked real hard on making the mile-and-a-half program better. Intermediate tracks make up almost half of the races on our schedule so you have to really be good at them. I think we’ve moved the ball and made our program better. The question now is ‘how much has the competition moved the ball?’ You can make an improvement to your program, but not improved it as much as the competition. We’ve worked hard on it and think we’re better but we’ll judge that on Sunday.”

You are taking the same car that you drove at both California and Las Vegas. How does it feel to take a car to Atlanta that you know will run well?
“We’ve been around long enough to know that the team’s who didn’t perform well are going to try and improve. The team’s that did perform well may not necessarily continue on. We have to continue our focus and we have to continue to try and improve, as well. We think we have a good base to build on but a lot of things come into play. We’ve got to have great pit stops, great strategy and I need to do the right thing at the right time on the track. The biggest thing we worked on during the off season is creating more speed. Early indication shows that we’ve done that but there is a whole lot more judging to come.”

Last year you ran in the top five for most of the race. What happened to the Cingular Chevy at the end?
“We ran really well there and we had some tire problems late in the race. A lot of teams had tire problems and ours caught us at a time in the race where you couldn’t recover from it. That’s the kind of thing that happens in motorsports. Everything is going well and then all of a sudden something happens totally out of your control and ends up taking a good finish from you. You can’t lose sleep over those days. You have to chalk it up to bad luck and move on.”

Do you enjoy competing at Atlanta Motor Speedway?
”Atlanta is one of my favorite racetracks. I really enjoy going there and I’m excited about running there this year. It’s one of those places where I think we have a good shot of winning. To me, it’s a great challenge. The difference between qualifying and racing there is so big. The track gets so slick during the race and becomes a blast to drive on. You have to get up on the wheel and drive the car. It’s so much fun. As a race car driver, that’s the kind of racing you hope for.”