Jeff Burton
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| Born: | June 29, 1967 | |
| Birthplace: | South Boston, Virginia | |
| Awards: | 1994 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year | |
| NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | 31 - Richard Childress Racing | |
| 2005 NEXTEL Cup Position: | 7th | |
| Best Cup Position: | 3rd - 2000 (Winston Cup) | |
| First Race: | 1993 Slick 50 300 (New Hampshire) | |
| First Win: | 1997 Interstate Batteries 500 (Texas) | |
| Last Win: | 2006 Dover 400 (Dover) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 18 | 174 | 6 |
| NASCAR Busch Series Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | 29 - Richard Childress Racing | |
| 2005 NBS Position: | 58th | |
| Best NBS Position: | 9th - 1992 | |
| First Race: | 1988 Miller Classic (Martinsville) | |
| First Win: | 1990 Zerex 150 (Martinsville) | |
| Last Win: | 2006 StonebridgeRacing.com 200 (Dover) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 22 | 118 | 11 |
| All stats current as of November 12, 2006. | ||
Jeffery Brian Burton (born June 29, 1967 in South Boston, Virginia) also sometimes referred to as "JB" is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #31 Cingular Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. He also races part-time in the Busch Series. Jeff Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who was a fellow Cup driver until near the end of the 2004 season.
Contents |
[edit] NASCAR career
[edit] NEXTEL Cup
1994 was Burton's rookie year in the Winston Cup Series. He drove the #8 Raybestos Ford for the Stavola Brothers team. After five races, he reached a season-high 14th place in the overall standings, but by the end of the year he dropped to 24th. He had a season-high fourth place finish on the way to earning 1994 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. He was one of a record-high ten rookies eligible for the award that year, besting a class that included future Cup stars Joe Nemechek, Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti, and older brother Ward. The next year, in 1995, Burton had 1 top-5, along with a 9th-place finish. He also missed three races and finished 32nd in points.
In 1996, Burton left the Stavola Brothers for Roush Racing. Driving the #99 Exide Batteries Ford for his new team, he finished 13th overall in the season standings despite failing to qualify for the Purolator 500 in March. His career hit a peak from 1997 to 2000, as he never finished lower than 5th in the points standings. He achieved his first career win in 1997, finishing first in the Interstate Batteries 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (the inaugural NASCAR race at Texas motor speedway), and would go on to win 14 more races during the four-year run. In 1999, Burton won a career-high six races, including the Jiffy Lube 300 for a third straight year, which would lead to a fifth-place finish in points. His best points finish was in 2000, when he finished 3rd, 294 points behind champion Bobby Labonte. During that year, on September 17th, he led the Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart at New Hampshire International Speedway wire-to-wire, becoming the first Cup driver to lead every lap in one race since Cale Yarborough did so at a 1978 race at Nashville Speedway USA. From 1997 to 2000, Burton won an event at NHIS every year. The following year, in 2001, Burton won another two races, upping his career total to 17, as he finished tenth in points.
In 2002 and 2003, he finished 12th and combined for 8 top-5s and 25 top-10s, but failed to win a race in either year. Rumors began to arise that Burton would be leaving Roush Racing. After originally denying the rumors, it finally happened in mid-2004 when, just before the Sirius at The Glen, Burton signed a three-year contract with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), leaving Roush after eight and a half years with the team. He would drive the #30 America Online Chevrolet for the rest of the season. Before the change, Burton had an average finish of 20.8 and was 23rd in points. In the 13 races after he changed teams, though, the same stats were improved to 16.6 and 18th. During the offseason, Burton and his team remained with RCR but were switched to the #31 Cingular Wireless Chevy, replacing Robby Gordon.
2005 was a bit of a struggle for Jeff. While many people expected him to end the win drought, it never happened. Burton had 6 top tens and 3 top fives through the whole year, including a 3rd at the Phoenix night race in April. In late August during the Sharpie 500 at Bristol, Burton had the best car in the closing laps, reeling in Matt Kenseth. A wreck set up a green-white-checkered in which Burton continually stuck to the bumper of the 17 car, but couldn't complete the pass. He finished 2nd. At the end of the year, strong finishes allowed the #31 cingular team to carry momentum into '06.
In 2006, Jeff Burton won the pole for four races, bringing his total number of career pole wins to six. The four pole wins were for the Daytona 500, the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Prior to qualifying for the Daytona 500, Burton was extremely enthusiastic about the improvements to RCR as a whole. He proved this by winning his first pole since September of 2000 at Richmond. The Brickyard Pole gave Richard Childress Racing the front row because teammate Clint Bowyer recorded the second fastest time. Burton's best finish came in the Chicagoland race where he recorded a second place finish. He led the most laps at Indianapolis and Bristol's Sharpie 500, setting the pace for more than half the race. In the Busch Series, he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway, breaking his four year long winless streak in any series. After the race at Richmond International Raceway Jeff qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. During the Chase, Burton won the Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway, breaking a 175-race winless streak dating back to October 28, 2001.[1] However, a series of relatively poor finishes in subsequent races all but eliminated Burton from contention for the championship.
In 2007, Burton faces a potential sponsor change. The merger of AT&T with Bellsouth will reportedly lead to the elimination of the Cingular brand because the combined company prefers the name AT&T Wireless for the division. The merger is expected to close in fall 2006. NASCAR has denied permission to Cingular to change its name while retaining its exemption from the prohibition on wireless companies sponsoring cars in the Nextel Cup series. It has been speculated by Jayski's Silly Season Site that Holiday Inn, the Coast Guard, or both may sponsor the 31 next year. However, it is unlikely that Coast Guard will be on the 31 next year, as they are not returning to NASCAR next year due to budget issues.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- NASCAR and IROC drivers statistics at racing-reference.info
- Jeff Burton at NASCAR.com
- Coca-Cola Racing Family's Jeff Burton profile
[edit] Notes
| Preceded by: Jeff Gordon |
NASCAR Rookie of the Year 1994 |
Succeeded by: Ricky Craven |
| Richard Childress Racing | |
| NEXTEL Cup Drivers | Clint Bowyer (#07) | Kevin Harvick (#29) | Jeff Burton (#31) | Scott Wimmer (#33) |
| Driver development program Drivers | Allison Duncan, Peter Hernandez, Brandon Miller, Peyton Sellers |
| Partnerships and Affiliations | Kevin Harvick Incorporated | JR Motorsports | Marsh Racing | Morgan-Dollar Motorsports |
| Other | Richard Childress | Dale Earnhardt |
