Jeff Burton
No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Sharpie 500 – August 25, 2007
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.
NOTES:
This Week’s AT&T Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 193 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2007, this is the same car Burton raced to a 13th-place finish at Phoenix (started 31st). Additionally, this chassis competed at Richmond (started 39th) where Burton finished 43rd after his engine expired on lap 137 while running 15th.
Stat Facts … In 27 NASCAR Cup starts at Bristol, Burton has posted seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. Since joining RCR in August, 2004, Burton has three top-five finishes in the Sharpie 500 (fourth in 2004 and second in 2005).
Last Time Around … In what was NASCAR’s first Car of Tomorrow event, the 19-time Cup Series winner battled Kyle Busch on a green-white-checkered restart and ultimately earned a second-place finish by a margin of 0.064 second.
Three to Go … The 19-time series winner currently sits seventh in the championship point standings with three races remaining in NASCAR’s “Race to the Chase.” The 12 Chase contenders will be determined once the checkered flag waves Sept. 8 at Richmond International Raceway. Over the same three races last season, Burton had an average starting position of 3.7 coupled with an average finishing position of 11.3.
Double Down at Bristol … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet, Burton, a 24-time race winner in the NASCAR Busch Series, will drive RCR’s No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in the August 24 Food City 250. The race will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and can also be heard on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
RCR at Bristol … In 99 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol, RCR boasts eight wins – seven with Dale Earnhardt and one with Kevin Harvick – three poles, 25 top-five and 45 top-10 finishes. Additionally, in 35 starts, RCR Busch Series teams have claimed five wins – four with Harvick and one with Jeff Green – 15 top-five and 20 top -10 finishes.
Up to Speed … The Sharpie 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, August 25 at 7 p.m. EDT and will be telecast live on ESPN. The event will also be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 24th of 36 races on the 2007 NASCAR Cup Series tour will air live on SPEED, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio Friday, August 24 at 3 p.m. EDT.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
The track has been restructured and repaved since we’ve been there last. What are your expectations for the new surface?
“There are a lot of unknowns at Bristol. We’re going there without having any information whatsoever. We’re talking to the guys who ran there at the Busch Series test as I didn’t run there but, from what I hear, it was quite a bit different. I’ll certainly be there on Thursday when the Busch Series has their open practice session and I’ll have a better idea of idea of what’s different about it. Right now, it’s more about what people are telling me. I look forward to a new track. The old track was exciting for the fans but I think the opportunity to have more than one groove, if that happens, is a good thing.”
Talk about your run at Bristol earlier this season.
“We ran really well there. We were good on long runs and we caught the strategy right. Scott Miller did a great job calling the race and got us in position to win. We missed a win by half a car length but we ran well and think we learned a lot. Now the track is different so we have to re-learn everything but we feel good about where we are.”
From a driver’s standpoint, what is the night race at Bristol like?
“Bristol is a lot of fun to be quite honest. It’s stressful when you are racing for points -- it makes it tough. On the other hand, it’s a lot of fun. It’s very physical and very competitive. It is an emotionally draining race as well as being physically draining. There is never a chance to take a break. It’s challenging and can be very rewarding but it can also break your heart pretty quickly. We go to Bristol with high hopes. We’ve run well there, including this spring, but ended up getting into someone else’s trouble. For some reason it seems like we run really well in the night race at Bristol so hopefully we can capitalize on that.”
