Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Jeff Burton Notes

Jeff Burton
No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Toyota/Save Mart 350 – June 24, 2007
Venue: Infineon Raceway – Sonoma, Calif.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Infineon Raceway … Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 210 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable, a new Car of Tomorrow (COT) race car for the 2007 season.

Stat Facts … In 13 starts at Infineon Raceway, Burton has posted four top-10 finishes.

Twists & Turns ... Burton’s NASCAR Cup Series road course stats include two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 26 starts. Additionally, the South Boston, Va., native has an average starting position of 20.7 coupled with an average finishing position of 20.2.

Road Course Debut for Impala … The No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet Impala SS, NASCAR’s next generation race car, makes its road-course competition debut Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. So far this season, the COT has competed in five of the scheduled 16 races. Previous COT events took place at Bristol Motor Speedway (st. 29th, fn. second), Martinsville Speedway (st. 19th, fn. sixth), Phoenix International Raceway (st. 42nd, fn. 34th), Richmond International Raceway (st. 39th, fn. 43rd) and Darlington Raceway (st. 34th, fn. 10th).

Testing, Testing … Burton and the AT&T Racing team tested at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) May 29 – 30 in preparation for the upcoming Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Million Dollar Man … With his 24th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway last weekend, Burton has topped the $3 million mark in earnings for the 2007 season, totaling $3,003,998 in 15 starts.

RCR at Infineon … Richard Childress is tied for third on the Infineon Raceway all-time car owner win list. Dale Eanhardt won the 1995 Save Mart Supermarkets 300 and Robby Gordon won the Dodge/Save Mart 350 in 2003. Additionally, in 34 starts at the 10-turn stadium course, RCR owns one pole, seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.

Throwing Him in the Deep End … RCR development driver Tim McCreadie will make his first NASCAR Busch Series start this weekend at The Milwaukee Mile behind the wheel of RCR’s No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. McCreadie, 33, of Watertown, N.Y. has only three career asphalt starts to his credit and finished fourth in his ARCA Series debut last weekend Michigan International Speedway. Prior to last Friday, McCreadie finished 11th in his NASCAR West Series debut in April at Phoenix International Raceway and followed that up with a 10th-place run on May 20 at Iowa Speedway. McCreadie is the 2006 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals winner and the defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series Champion.

June is for Birthdays … AT&T driver Jeff Burton will celebrate his 40th birthday on June 29. Additionally, two members of the AT&T Racing team will celebrate birthdays this month. Fabricator and rear-tire changer Aaron Smith turns 29 on June 27. Mechanic and pit support specialist Chad Tigert turns 33 on June 30.

Up to Speed … The Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway will be televised live Sunday, June 24 beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on TNT and be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 16th of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will air live on SPEED Friday, June 22 at 7 p.m. EDT and will also be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES –
How will the COT react on a road course and do you think the splitter will be an issue?
“I think the splitter is not as big of an issue as we believed it would be. The splitter has proven to be an extremely durable piece of material. I could be proven wrong but when we tested at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) last month, the curves were pretty aggressive, and I don't think it's going to be that big of an issue. Certainly it's potentially an issue but I don't think the splitter is going to be that big of an issue in and of itself. It's a lower grip car and it doesn't make as much grip as the cars we are running today and on a road course, it will make a big difference. They're heavier and the CG (center of gravity) is higher. There are a lot of things that work against the car driving well and that will show up on a road course."

Do you enjoy road course racing?
“I love road course racing. I think it’s a blast. It breaks up the year for us and gives us something different than what we normally do. I’m confident in how we ran there in the past, but we don’t have a lot of finishes to show for it. A lot of that falls on my shoulders. The two road course races are going to be very important to the Chase. Those are the types of race tracks that have huge potential pitfalls. You can easily finish 43rd there by having a problem or getting off course. It’s a place where you can lose a lot of ground. On the other hand, it’s a place where you can make up a lot of ground. If you can run up front, you have a chance of winning and potentially could make up some ground in the points.”

What’s the difference between Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen?
“Watkins Glen is the superspeedway of road courses and Infineon Raceway is the Martinsville of road courses. Watkins Glen has much faster corners and longer straightaways than Infineon. Infineon has many more turns, less heavy breaking areas and much shorter straightaways than Watkins Glen. They are both road courses but the similarities stop there. The two tracks are very different in layout. Infineon has big, quick elevation changes where as Watkins Glen has much slower elevation changes and the corners are faster.”