Jeff Burton
No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: LifeLock 400 – September 30, 2007
Venue: Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, Kan.
NOTES:
This Week’s AT&T Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 209 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable, a brand new race car for the 2007 season.
Burton in the Loop at Kansas …
Stat Facts … In six starts at Kansas Speedway, Burton boasts one top-five finish.
Good Start, Better Finish … Over the season’s first 28 races, Burton has earned seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. He currently holds an 18.0 starting average coupled with a 13.0 finishing average and has completed 7,760 of 8,099 total laps (95.8%) to date.
Since We’re Talking Stats … Burton is ranked 11th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (14.5) and is currently the sport’s fifth-best Quality Passer – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved while running in the top-15 during green-flag conditions. He is 10th in the Driver Rating category (89.1). The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, 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.
One Trophy Missing from the Shelf … Surprisingly enough, in 17 starts at Kansas Speedway, RCR has only one top-five and just two top-10 finishes. Burton finished fifth last year while Clint Bowyer went on to finish ninth. Kevin Harvick notched a sixth-place effort in October, 2003. All totaled, RCR’s three car team has a 22.9 starting average and an 18.1 average finish at the metropolitan Kansas City race course. The only other tracks on the current schedule where RCR hasn’t earned Cup Series wins are California Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Meet the driver … AT&T driver Jeff Burton will sign autographs on Thursday, September 27 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the AT&T store located at 1843 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, Kan., just five minutes from Kansas Speedway.
Double Duty … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet, Burton, a 25-time race winner in the NASCAR Busch Series, will drive RCR’s No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in the September 28 Yellow Transportation 300. The race will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and can also be heard on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Catch the Action … The LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway will be televised live Sunday, September 30 beginning at 1 p.m. EDT on ABC and broadcast live on the MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the third race on the Chase tour will take the green flag at 4 p.m. EDT Friday, September 28 and will be telecast live on ESPN2.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
You have one top-10 finish in six starts at Kansas but it seems that RCR has drastically improved their intermediate program. What are your thoughts about racing at Kansas this weekend?
“I’ve had good race cars at Kansas but it just seems like we have things go wrong there. I feel good about going to Kansas. I really enjoy that race track and look forward to racing there. As the race track gets older, it becomes a much better track to race on. I have high expectations this weekend.”
Kansas is the third race of the Chase. Does the Chase start to come in to play at this point?
“I don’t think the Chase truly becomes in focus until the sixth race. There may be some people in the fourth race where you might say ‘that guy is definitely out’ but I don’t think you can completely eliminate people. There is still time to make things happen. I think the fifth or sixth race is when you can start really focusing in on who’s going for the title. You can put yourself in position to win it early and you can put yourself in position to lose early. You won’t win it or lose it in one race or two races, instead you need to start positioning yourself to make a run at it.”
All three RCR drivers are in the Chase. Is that a benefit or a disadvantage?
“I think the reason that teams are in the Chase is because of the quality of the teams. Having all three teams in the Chase is a verification and a result of the work that’s been done at our company. I think it’s good to have as many teams as possible from your company in the Chase. We’re going to work together the same way we’ve always worked together. We’re not going to quit that communication or effort because we’re racing each other for a championship. Our goal, from a company standpoint, was to get all three teams in the Chase and then have a chance for all three teams to win a championship. Not that those goals are easy to achieve but we were able to achieve the first part and hopefully we can finish the second part off. I know there’s a lot of concern about teams continuing to work together as they’re competing in the playoffs and competing for the championship but we don’t have that concern internally.”
