Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

UAW-Ford 500 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: UAW-Ford 500 – October 7, 2007
Venue: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway

NOTES:

This Week’s AT&T Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway … Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 219 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Cup Series stable, a new race car for the 2007 season that Burton tested at Talladega September 10-11 as part of NASCAR’s sanctioned test session.

Burton in the Loop … o State Facts … In 27 Cup Series starts at Talladega, Burton owns two top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. o The Talladega Report … According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Burton leads all drivers with the most green-flag passes at the famed Alabama race track. Additionally, the 19-time Cup Series winner is the series best quality passer. Since the inception of loop data statistics in 2005, Burton has made 1,672 passes while running in the top-15 under green-flag conditions. He also leads all drivers with the most passes in turns two and four. o Since We’re Talking Stats … Burton is the NASCAR Cup Series 12th-best Closer – a statistic derived from the number of positions improved over the last 10 percent of each race. Burton has gained an average of 0.665 spots over the season’s first 29 races and has improved a total of 19 positions over the closing 10 percent of those same races. The South Boston, Va., native has also logged 4,921 of the 8,309 laps completed this season (59.2 percent) running in the top 15. Burton is ranked 13th in NASCAR’s Average Running Position category (15.26) and is also 12th in the Driver Rating category (87.6). 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 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.

Still in the Hunt … Three races into last season’s Chase for the Cup, 2006 series champion Jimmie Johnson left Kansas Speedway 165 markers behind the points leader. He finished 39th in New Hampshire, 13th in Dover and 14th in Kansas, posting an average finish of 22nd. Johnson went on to tally five top-five and six top-10 finishes in the final seven races to capture his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Although Burton is 186 points out of the lead, previous season stats show that the South Boston, Va., native is still in the hunt for his first NASCAR Cup Series title. Over the same three races this season, Burton has posted an average finish of 20.3.

RCR at Talladega … Richard Childress competed as a driver in Talladega’s inaugural race in 1969 and used his winnings from that race weekend to help start RCR. Fittingly, he now holds the record as the car owner with the most success at the storied Alabama track, with nine victories to his organization’s credit, all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, in 102 starts, RCR boasts four poles, 28 top-five, 44 top-10 finishes and nearly $6 million in earnings.

Fan Day at RCR … RCR will host a special fan day on Friday, October 12 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. All RCR drivers, Clint Bowyer, Burton, Kevin Harvick, Tim McCreadie and Scott Wimmer, along with team owner Richard Childress will be on hand to sign autographs beginning at 9:30 a.m. In addition to the autograph sessions, there will be museum tours, pit stop ride-a-longs, product discounts, food and live music. Get to RCR early to get your ticket for the autograph sessions, and stay all day!

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 UAW-Ford 500, fans will be able to watch all the action through DIRECTV’s multiple camera angles, real-time car telemetry and listen to in-car audio communication. · Catch the Action … The UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live Sunday, October 7 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on ABC and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 30th of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 1 p.m. EDT Saturday, October 6 and will be telecast live on SPEED.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
What kind of racing can we expect at Talladega with the Car of Tomorrow?
"We're going to see a race that looks very similar to the races we've seen at Talladega. I think we're going to see big packs of cars. The only thing that's going to separate the cars, in my opinion, is pit stops. If you have a bad pit stop you could get separated. The interesting thing about the Car of Tomorrow at Talladega is, and I know this contradicts itself, it's easier to lose the draft and at the same time it's easier to catch the draft. It's much more situational. I believe that if you get far enough behind, catching the draft might be questionable. Even if they are three-wide or two-wide, there's a point of no return where you won't catch it anymore. We still don't understand exactly what that point is. I also saw the possibility where people got lined up, say the top 10 got lined up, and 12 on back was double-file. The top 10 will pull away. Those are the things that are hard to tell what's going to happen, but I anticipate big pack racing for the majority of the race.”

Are there any differences with racing the Impala SS instead of the Monte Carlo SS at Talladega?
“There are differences but I think the end result will be the same. For me, there are some things I am going to have to do different in order to be effective in this car. For the fans watching the race, it’s going to be the same kind of race they have been watching.”

Is Talladega going to be a turning point in the Chase?
“Certainly after Talladega we could know who doesn’t have a shot at the championship. There will be some teams who probably have hurt their chances a great deal. The thing about Talladega is it’s easy to be in the lead pack and finish 25th, it’s easy to be riding there minding your own business and have another car land on top of your car and it’s easy to have bad things happen quickly. It’s a very volatile race, in my opinion, when you look at the championship contenders.”