Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Food City 500 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: Food City 500 – March 25, 2007
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car Bristol Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 191 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable, a new Car of Tomorrow (COT) race car for the 2007 season.

Car of Today … The No. 31 Cingular Wireless Impala SS, NASCAR’s next-generation race car, makes its competition debut this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The culmination of a seven-year project by NASCAR’s Research & Development Center offers major safety enhancements along with performance and competition improvements and cost management for teams. The COT is being introduced on a multi-year schedule and will compete in 16 of this season’s 36 NASCAR Cup Series events.

Burton in the Loop …
o Stat Facts … In 26 NASCAR Cup starts at BMS, Burton has posted six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
o Better Than Average … Strong performances by Team Cingular in the first four races of the season definitely show as Burton continues to lead all drivers in the Average Running Position category. His average running position of 8.079 is the sum of his positions on each lap divided by the laps run in the race.
o Speed Demon … Burton has yet to finish a race this season outside the top 15. Additionally, Burton has completed 91.9% of the total laps this season running in the top 15.
o Now that’s Quality … Burton extended his lead in the Quality Passes category with his fourth-place finish at Atlanta last weekend. Burton has passed 403 cars while running in the top 15 under green-flag conditions, 64 more passes than second-place Carl Edwards.

Strong Runs with RCR… In his five races at Bristol Motor Speedway since joining RCR, Burton has posted two top-five and three top-10 finishes. He finished fourth in the 2004 Sharpie 500 in just his second race with RCR, followed by a second-place finish in 2005 and a ninth-place finish last fall.

RCR at Bristol … In 96 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol, RCR boasts eight wins – seven with Dale Earnhardt and one with Kevin Harvick – three poles, 23 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes. Additionally, in 32 starts, RCR Busch Series teams have claimed five wins – four with Harvick and one with Jeff Green – 15 top-five and 18 top -10 finishes.

Testing, Testing … Burton and the No. 31 team tested at Bristol Motor Speedway February 28-March 1 in preparation for the Food City 500. This was the third of seven tests allowed under NASCAR’s 2007 testing policy. The remaining tests available to teams in NASCAR’s top division will be conducted at Richmond International Raceway (April 3-4), Lowe’s Motor Speedway (May 7-8), Dover International Speedway (May 14-15) and Talladega Superspeedway (Sept. 10-11).

More Testing … Following the Food City 500, Jeff Burton will test the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway on Tuesday, March 27 as part of the NASCAR Busch Series test session.

Birthday Wishes … Wes Adams, assistant engine assembler for the Cingular Chevy, will celebrate his 36th birthday this Friday at BMS. At the track, the Winston-Salem, N.C., native’s duties include engine tuning and windshield tear offs.

Live on Tour … Jeff Burton will be the featured driver on NASCAR’s satellite media tour from Bristol Motor Speedway Friday, March 23 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). If you would like to be included in the feed or for additional information, please contact Jennifer Powell in the NASCAR Public Relations department in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Bound for Bristol - Fan’s Victory of a Lifetime heads to the Volunteer State … Prilosec OTC Victory of a Lifetime Sweepstakes winner Jim Farina continues his ultimate NASCAR Fan’s season at Bristol Motor Speedway’s Food City 500 this weekend. This will be Jim’s sixth race of his 20 race schedule with RCR’s No. 31 Cup team, and will mark the inaugural running for the Car of Tomorrow. Prior to the race Jim will enjoy Bristol Motor Speedway’s very own VIP hospitality event, The Half Mile Club. At the Half Mile Club Jim will enjoy gourmet meals, track tours and meet and greets with NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers.

Up to Speed … The Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, March 25 beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT on FOX. The race will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fifth of 36 races on the 2007 NASCAR Cup Series tour will air live on SPEED, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio beginning Friday, March 23 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
The Car of Tomorrow is finally making its debut this weekend. How big of a milestone do you think this race will be when we look back on it years from now?
“I think this will be a historic race in a lot of ways. Never before has NASCAR had their finger on what teams are doing as much as they will with this car. Never before has their influence been this big in determining how we build the cars. In time, we will determine if it was successful or not. I think it potentially will have ramifications that we don’t understand just yet. There are a lot of things about the car that we don’t know until we run a race. This will be a huge learning curve for everyone. I think the quality of the race will be fine. We know what happens today in racing and understand the consequences of certain things, but we don’t understand the Car of Tomorrow just yet. There will be teams that have a bad race because of the Car of Tomorrow but, hopefully, we’ve done our homework and we’ll go out there and be as good as we need to be.”

Because the Car of Tomorrow will compete in 16 races this season, do you think it will influence the championship chase?
“Without a doubt, running the Car of Tomorrow will help determine who the champion is. You can’t go through more than half the schedule with a certain type of car without it influencing who the champion will be. By the way, in the last 10 races, five of them are Car of Tomorrow races. If you are going to compete for the championship, your Car of Tomorrow program has to be effective. If it’s not, you can not compete for the championship and for wins. The Car of Tomorrow will have a huge impact on who makes the Chase and who wins the championship.”

Do you think the Car of Tomorrow will provide better racing?
“Time will tell. There was a tremendous amount of effort put into the safety side of things, too. I don't think that should be left unsaid. The goal is to have better racing and safer vehicles. I don't have an overall answer. I do believe, short-term, we have the possibility of a larger gap from first to last because it's so new. Some people are going to figure it out faster than others. Long-term, I think we have the opportunity for competition to be better because we're restricted in all the things we can do. Only time will tell. But I think the potential for closer racing is there.”