Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Lenox Industrial Tools 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

Jeff Burton
No. 31 LENOX Industrial Tools Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: LENOX Industrial Tools 300 – July 1, 2007
Venue: New Hampshire International Speedway – Loudon, N.H.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car New Hampshire International Speedway (NHIS) … Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 196 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Most recently, Burton raced this car to a 12th-place finish at Dover International Speedway (started ninth). Additionally, Burton and the AT&T Racing team tested this race car at Richmond International Speedway April 3-4.

Stat Facts … In 24 Cup starts at NHIS, Burton boasts four wins, seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes and has led for a total of 694 laps. Additionally, Burton has a 19.71 starting average coupled with a 13.21 finishing average.

Points Check … Burton’s third-place finish last week at Infineon Raceway helped the 39-year-old driver maintain the fifth spot in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings. However, due to penalties distributed by NASCAR on Tuesday, Burton moved up one spot, to fourth, after Jimmie Johnson was penalized 100 points for an infraction stemming from last weekend’s race in the wine country. The South Boston, Va., native now sits 21 markers out of third. Additionally, the 19-time Cup Series winner is one of two drivers who have remained in the top 10 in NASCAR’s championship point standings during the first 16 weeks of the season.

Record Holder … Burton seems to know his way around NHIS. The South Boston, Va., native owns a few track records, including most wins (four), most laps led by a race winner (300 – September 2000), least laps led by a race winner (two – July 1999) and track race record (Time 2:42:35, Speed 117.134 mph – July 1999).

From the Start … NHIS was the site of Burton’s first NASCAR Cup Series start on July 11, 1993.

Over the Hill … Burton will celebrate his 40th birthday on Friday, June 29.

Change of Scenery … LENOX’s associate sponsorship of RCR’s No. 31 Chevrolet kicks into high gear this weekend in New Hampshire as Burton and the No. 31 team transform their bright orange No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet into a red, white and blue LENOX racing machine for the LENOX Industrial Tools 300. LENOX produces band saw blades, sawing fluids, hand power tool accessories in over 70 countries around the world.

Testing, One, Two, Three, Testing … Burton and the AT&T Racing team will test at The Milwaukee Mile on Wednesday, June 27 and Thursday, June 28 in preparation for this weekend’s LENOX Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

RCR at NHIS … Richard Childress is tied for fourth all time with Joe Gibbs and Robert Yates for car owner victories at New Hampshire International Speedway with two – Robby Gordon (2001) and Kevin Harvick (2006). In 54 starts at the one-mile oval, Childress boasts one pole, nine top-five and 22 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Mike Skinner, Harvick, Gordon, Jeff Green, Steve Park, and Burton.

More McCreadie … … RCR development driver Tim McCreadie will make his NASCAR Busch East debut this weekend at NHIS behind the wheel of the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet. Last weekend, “T-Mac” made his first NASCAR Busch Series start for RCR at The Milwaukee Mile where he started 24th and finished 28th after he was collected in an incident of another driver’s making. Prior to last weekend, McCreadie, 33, of Watertown, N.Y. had only three career asphalt starts to his credit and finished fourth in his ARCA Series debut two weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway. Before that, 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.

LENOX Day … Following his test session at The Milwaukee Mile on Thursday, June 28, Burton will fly to East Longmeadow, Mass. to meet with LENOX executives at his weekend sponsor’s headquarters. Burton will also speak to all LENOX employees on the importance of racing, utilizing racing as a metaphor for business and collaboration. Following his motivational speech, Burton will be given a VIP tour around the LENOX plant, observing how tools are made.

Up Close and Personal … The No. 31 team will be one of five teams featured this weekend on DIRECTV’S NASCAR HOTPASS. With a channel dedicated solely to the AT&T Racing team during the running of the LENOX Industrial Tools 300, fans will be able to watch all the action through Direct TV’s multiple camera angles, real-time car telemetry and listen to in-car audio communication.

Catch the Action … The LENOX Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway will be televised live Sunday, July 1 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on TNT and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 17th of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 3 p.m. EDT Friday, June 29 and will be telecast live on SPEED.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
You’ve had a lot of success at New Hampshire. Can you assess your chances going into race weekend there?
"I certainly have high hopes going there. I'm real comfortable with the race track, but at the same time, we've haven't won a race there in years and we haven’t had the success that we need to have there. We worked pretty hard at the Richmond test and ended up having one of the best two or three cars out there. It was unfortunate that we had our engine let go during the Richmond race earlier this year because our car was real fast. We struggled a little bit at Phoenix but ended up leaving there with a decent finish. So, I’m going into this weekend being optimistic.”

How important will that race be?
"Obviously as the races get closer to two or three to go before the last 10, we've got a tremendous amount of emphasis put on it. However, we can't forget that they pay the same amount of points for the third race of the year as they do for the 25th race of the year. So all the work that we've done up to this point is what matters and every race by itself matters a great deal. The emphasis will start to be put on these closing races. At the end of the day, it's an accumulation of all the points you gained in the first 26, so it really doesn't make that race any more important than any other."

Will the Car of Tomorrow present some challenges at New Hampshire?
"First off, the big challenge is the fact that the turns are so flat and the groove is half-a-lane off the bottom. The track has continued to gain grip through the years. It used to be real easy to spin the tires and we didn't have any rear grip but today it is actually pretty good with rear grip. Getting the car to turn is your biggest battle in New Hampshire where it used to be getting the rear wheels to hook up. The Car of Tomorrow has changed things for sure. There's a lot of work going into the Car of Tomorrow by a lot of different people trying to become more successful, and we're one of them. We haven't run as well as we need to in the Car of Tomorrow so far, but that doesn't mean that we can't. That just means we've got to figure it out, and we're working a lot between now and New Hampshire and, hopefully, we'll be a lot smarter going to New Hampshire than we are right now."