Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Dodge Challenger 500 - Jeff Burton Notes

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

Event/Date: Dodge Challenger 500 – May 10, 2008
Venue: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway

NOTES:

This Week’s AT&T Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway … Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 224 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Cup Series stable. Built new for the 2008 season, this is the same AT&T Chevrolet Impala SS Burton drove to a 12th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway (started eighth) and a third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway (started 24th).

Burton in the Loop …

Stat Facts … In 25 Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, Burton has posted two wins, eight top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, with only one Did Not Finish (engine) and only three finishes outside the top 20.

The Darlington Report … According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Burton is the sport’s second-best Green Flag Passer at Darlington Raceway. Over the last three races at the 1.366-mile oval, the 20-time Cup Series winner has completed 161 passes under green-flag conditions. Of those same 161 passes, the 2007 Chase contender has completed 62 passes while running in the top 15.

And Then There Was One … The 2008 Food City 500 winner is the lone driver who has completed every lap of competition this season. Burton also has completed 77.5% of the total laps (2,555 of 3,297) running in the top 15 and leads all drivers with the most runs on the lead lap (3,277 of 3,297).

Keep on Running … Burton is ranked seventh in the Average Running Position category. His average position over the first 10 Cup Series races is 12.129. That statistic is derived from the sum of his position on each lap divided by the number of laps run in each race.

Season Rewind … Over the season’s first 10 races, the South Boston, Va., native has claimed one win, three top-five and six top-10 finishes and has yet to finish worse than 13th. The 20-time Cup Series winner currently sits second in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings, only 18 markers behind leader Kyle Busch. Burton took over the NASCAR Cup Series championship points lead after posting a third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway and held it for the next four weeks. However, his 11th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway last weekend relegated him to second after Busch captured a second-place finish.

How This All Stacks Up … Burton currently sits eighth (93.7) in NASCAR’s Driver Rating category. The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, finishes, 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.

Rain Man - Back-to-Back winner … Burton won both races at Darlington Raceway in 1999, leading both events as rain began to fall which forced NASCAR to throw the checkered flag prior to the scheduled distance.

Consistency Shows … Clint Bowyer’s victory last weekend at RIR catapulted the Emporia, Kan., native to fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings. Fellow RCR driver Kevin Harvick advanced one position, to fifth, after his eighth-place finish at the three-quarter mile oval. This is the first time in RCR’s illustrious 39-year history that all three RCR-prepared cars reside in the top five in the point standings.

Double Down in Darlingtown … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet, Burton, a 27-time race winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will drive RCR’s No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in the May 9 Diamond Hill Plywood 200. The race will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and can also be heard on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Testing, Testing … Burton and the AT&T Racing team tested Monday, May 5 and Tuesday, May 6 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in preparation for the All-Star Challenge and the Coca-Cola 600. This was the fifth of seven tests allowed under NASCAR’s 2008 testing policy. The remaining tests available to teams in NASCAR’s top division will be conducted at Pocono Raceway (May 27-28) and Lowe’s Motor Speedway (Sept. 23-24).

RCR at Darlington … Richard Childress is tied for third all time with Holman-Moody and the Wood Brothers for car owner victories at Darlington with eight - all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, Childress boasts 21 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes at the egg-shaped South Carolina oval with five different drivers including Bowyer, Burton, Earnhardt, Harvick and Robby Gordon.

Dear Diary … Throughout the Dodge Challenger 500 race weekend at Darlington Raceway, Burton will be a guest columnist for the The State (Columbia, S.C.) newspaper. The 50th Southern 500 winner will discuss how the track’s repaving will affect competition, his season so far and his day-to-day activities from the track as he competes in both the Nationwide and Cup Series events this weekend. His column can be read in the motorsports section at www.thestate.com.

Up to Speed …The Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway will be televised live Saturday, May 10 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT on FOX and will broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 11th of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will air live on SPEED Friday, May 9 at 2:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
You’ve ran well at Darlington in the past. What are your expectations for this race?
“The one thing about Darlington is that if you have a fast car, it’s easy to pass another car. If you have a car that’s the same as somebody else’s car, it’s incredibly hard to pass. A fast car rewards you a great deal. It will be interesting to see if passing will be the same with the new asphalt. We struggled there the last couple of years and haven’t run as well as we needed to. I’m looking forward to Darlington. We’ve learned a lot about the Impala SS and I think we can be very competitive.”

Darlington has been repaved since your visit last year. What are your thoughts on the new surface?
“A very few places actually make the racing better. I think Darlington did the right thing. It’s the most historic race track, as far as I’m concerned, that we go to - more so than Daytona. Even though they repaved it, they kept the history and essence of the track and I think that’s real important.”

Do you think there will be more passing opportunities with the new surface?
“The groove has always been right up against the wall. With the new surface and more grip, I think it will enable somebody to drive underneath another car and make that move easier. It’s been difficult to do that here because there is no grip. The reason we run the high line isn’t because there is more grip, but because it’s a bigger radius. You don’t have to turn the steering wheel as much by running the high line. Under slick conditions, that’s normally a good thing. With high grip and new asphalt, a driver trying to pass somebody will be able to turn underneath them and create more passing opportunities.”

RICHARD CHILDRESS QUOTE:
Comment on this being the first time all three RCR cars have been in the top five in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings.
“I just think it shows the consistency and teamwork we’re working with at RCR right now. Everyone is trying to be the most competitive they can and, hopefully, have a run at The Chase and the championship. All three teams and all three drivers still have areas to improve on. We’re not resting on what we’ve accomplished at all but it is good knowing we have things headed in the right direction at this point in the season.”