Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sylvania 300 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: Sylvania 300 – September 16, 2007
Venue: New Hampshire International Speedway – Loudon, N.H.

NOTES:

This Week’s AT&T Chevrolet at New Hampshire International Speedway (NHIS) … Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 204, a brand new Car of Tomorrow from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable.

Stat Facts … In 25 Cup starts at NHIS, Burton boasts four wins, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.

Chase it … Burton makes his second consecutive appearance in NASCAR’s playoff format since its inception in 2004. The South Boston, Va., native has earned one win, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the season’s opening 26 events. He’s seeded 10th heading into this weekend’s opening round of the Chase for the NASCAR Cup at NHIS. The 40-year-old driver is just 10 points out of fourth, 20 out of third, 30 out of second and a mere 50 markers behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Three for Three … For the first time since the Chase for the NASCAR Cup came into being in 2004, all three RCR’s fulltime NASCAR Cup Series teams have qualified for and will compete in the 2007 Chase for the NASCAR Cup.

Record Holder … Burton seems to know his way around NHIS as he owns a few track records of his own, 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 start on July 11, 1993.

Media Darling … Burton will join his fellow Chase participants, including RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, for NASCAR’s media blitz in New York City this week. The top-12 drivers will appear on The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday, September 12 then participate in a day long media tour in NYC on Thursday, Sept. 13. The AT&T driver is scheduled as a guest on Good Morning America, Sirius Satellite Radio, Fox Sports Radio, ESPN’s First Take and a satellite media tour with the Texas media among other appearances.

Testing, One, Two, Three, Testing … All three of RCR’s Cup Series teams are testing at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Burton, along with teammates Bowyer and Harvick, will log laps at the high-banked 2.66-mile superspeedway as they prepare for the division’s inaugural Car of Tomorrow restrictor-plate race on October 7.

RCR at NHIS … Richard Childress is tied for fifth all time with Robert Yates for car owner victories at New Hampshire International Speedway with two – Robby Gordon (2001) and Kevin Harvick (2006). In 57 starts at the one-mile oval, Childress boasts one pole, nine top-five and 24 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Mike Skinner, Harvick, Gordon, Jeff Green, Steve Park, and Burton.

On the Hunt … RCR team owner Richard Childress is in Mongolia this week as part of a week-long hunting trip.

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 Sylvania 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 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway will be televised live Sunday, September 16 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on ABC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 27th of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 3 p.m. EDT Friday, September 14 and will be telecast live on SPEED.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Now that the AT&T Racing team has reached the goal of making it into The Chase for the Championship, what do you need to do from here to win the Championship?
“We need to step it up a bit. This is a really strong team and I am very proud of everyone and the job they have done to this point. From the way we have been running I think we need to improve a little bit. We’re close but we have to find a way to get just a touch better. The AT&T Racing team is very prepared going into The Chase. We have a lot of new equipment sitting in our shop and think it’s better than what we have been running. With that, we think we can step it up just a little bit and we’ll be right there. There are a lot of good teams who didn’t make it into The Chase so that makes me appreciate the fact we are in even more. Instead of going into The Chase and sputtering through it, I want to go in and be a force so that is what we are trying to do. You have to run well in The Chase in order to compete for the championship. You can’t 15th your way into the title. You can’t win the thing in the first few races but I believe you can lose it if you have a few bad runs right off the bat”

You’ve had a lot of success at New Hampshire. How do you approach this weekend’s race as you contend for the season’s championship trophy?
"The track is a lot different and, by the way, competition is a lot different, too. If you look at the way it is today versus eight years ago, it's way more competitive today. There are more good teams that are capable of winning races. The competition has gotten tougher. Jeff Gordon has not had the success he's had in the past there, nor have we. I think that's more of a show of the competition than anything else. We ran very well there at this race last year. Harvick won and we finished seventh but we ran better than that and I feel good about it. The track is different because the groove has changed a lot but I think the biggest difference is competition."