Ward Burton

Ward Burton
Burton in 1997
Born	(1961-10-25) October 25, 1961 South Boston, Virginia, United States
Achievements	2002 Daytona 500 Winner 2001 Southern 500 Winner Led Busch Series in poles in 1993
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
375 race(s) run over 13 year(s)
Best finish	9th (1999)
First race	1994 Pontiac Excitement 400 (Richmond)
Last race	2007 Subway 500 (Martinsville)
First win	1995 AC Delco 400 (Rockingham)
Last win	2002 New England 300 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles 5 82 7
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
161 race(s) run over 10 year(s)
Best finish	6th (1993)
First race	1990 Pontiac 200 (Richmond)
Last race	2007 Carfax 250 (Michigan)
First win	1992 Goodwrench 200 (Rockingham)
Last win	1993 Slick 50 300 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 50 7
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
1 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
2012 position	59th
Best finish	59th (2012)
First race	2012 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of April 17, 2013.

John Edward Burton III, better known as Ward Burton (born October 25, 1961 in South Boston, Virginia) is an American stock car racing driver. He is on staff at Turner Scott Motorsports as a driver coach for the team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Burton has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500. He is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Jeff Burton and the father of Jeb Burton. In addition to his racing, he currently operates the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, a conservation and sportsmans' organization. Ward and his wife, Tabitha, have three children -- John Edward IV, better known as Jeb, Sarah, and Ashton.

Busch career

Burton began his NASCAR Busch Series career in the 1990 season and competed full-time for four seasons. In his first season he had 23 starts with three Top-10 finishes, ending the season in 21st place. His results improved steadily over the next three years. For his second season, he had 29 starts with two Top-5 finishes and 10 Top-10 finishes, completing the season in 18th place.

Burton's third season in 1992 brought his first win on February 29 at Rockingham in the number 27 Gwaltney car owned by Alan Dillard. He completed the season in 8th place overall with one win, three Top-5 finishes and 10 Top-10 finishes. His final full-time season in 1993 brought three more wins, nine Top-5 and 10 Top-10 finishes, ending up in 6th place in the final points standings.

In 1995, Ward started driving for Buz McCall in the #95 Caterpillar, Inc. Chevrolet after John Tanner was released. He drove for Bill Davis Racing in 1996 for eight starts in the #22 MBNA Pontiac.

Ward did not start another Busch Series race until 1999 when he ran 5 more races for Bill Davis with sponsorship from Siemens. He acculumulated 3 top-5 and 5 top-10 finishes including a 2nd place finish at Dover International Speedway. He also ran one race for Innovative Motorsports and their #47 Chevrolet.

In 2000, Ward ran 5 more races for Davis with sponsorship from Polaris Industries and 1 race with Innovative Motorsports. He then ran 2 races in 2001 for Tommy Baldwin Jr.'s new team with Pillsbury sponsorship.

On January 2, 2007 Brewco Motorsports Inc. announced Ward Burton would drive the No. 27 Kleenex Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2007. Burton was to drive 20 races for Brewco Motorsports and Kleenex, beginning with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway. He was released late in the season.

Cup career

1997 MBNA racecar

Burton's crew working on his 2004 car

Ward Burton's #4 car in 2007

1994-2000

Burton moved up to the Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup) in 1994. He ran 26 of 31 races in the #31 Hardee's Chevy for Alan Dillard, Jr., winning his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finishing thirty-fifth in standings. He returned to the #31 ride in 1995 but was released midway through the season. He moved to the #22 Bill Davis Racing MBNA Pontiac after 21 races where he won the AC-Delco 400 at Rockingham.

Caterpillar became the new primary sponsor for the car (his brother Jeff Burton now drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevy) in 1999, where he picked up a ninth-place points finish.

2000-2007

In 2000 he won the Mall.com 400 at Darlington Speedway and had 17 Top 10 finishes to finish 10th in the final points standings. Davis Racing switched to Dodge in 2001, when he won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and had 10 Top 10 finishes to finish 14th in the final points standings.

In 2002 he started in the top fifteen of the Daytona 500. For the entire race he drove up towards the lead but during a red flag period was in second place. However Burton took the lead of the field during the red flag when the dominant driver who was on his way to victory, Sterling Marlin climbed out of his car to try to fix the fender of his car during the red flag, drawing a penalty as repairs are prohibited under red flag conditions under NASCAR rules. With Marlin sent to the back of the field for a restart, Burton inherited the lead and took the victory of the 2002 Daytona 500.^[1]

He also won the New England 300 at Loudon, New Hampshire, but due to numerous mechanical failures, he fell to 25th in the standings. Another highlight of the year was a wreck at Bristol where Burton threw his brakepads at Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for wrecking him in turn 3 late in the race.

2003 was a season of poorer finishes. He only had 4 Top 10 finishes, and he left Bill Davis Racing with five races left in the season to begin driving the #0 NetZero Pontiac for Haas CNC Racing. He finished the season 21st in the final points standings.

In 2004 Burton raced Haas CNC Racing's NetZero HiSpeed #0 car to 3 Top 10 finishes, but was released from the team with two races left in the season. He spent the next two seasons as a free agent. He returned to the Sprint Cup series late in the 2006 season, driving the #4 Lucas Oil Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. His first race was the Subway 500 on October 22, 2006 at Martinsville Speedway. He started in 35th place and finished 26th, the last car on the lead lap. In his next driving opportunity, on November 5, 2006 at Texas Motor Speedway, he started in 37th place and finished 25th. On December 12, 2006 Ward signed with Morgan-McClure Motorsports to drive the #4 car full-time in 2007. In 2007, Ward's performance was lackluster, posting a best place finish of 14. On November 12, 2007, he was released from Morgan-Mcclure Motorsports so that the team could "evaluate performance". Morgan-McClure closed up shop shortly afterward.

Following his release Burton did not officially retire; however, it was not until 2012 that he returned to NASCAR, signing with Hillman Racing to run in the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, as well as selected races later in the year as a teammate to his son Jeb.^[2]

Burton joined Turner Scott Motorsports as a driver coach for the team starting in 2013, where he assists with driver development for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series teams.

Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries

Burton (left) in 2007

On November 1, 2005, then Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner appointed Burton to the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries.^{[citation needed]}

As a resident of Halifax County, VA, Ward assumed the seat on the board for Virginia's 5th Congressional District that was formerly held by C. Wilson McNeely, IV, who resigned after six years of service.

Burton, an avid sportsman and conservationist, is the founder and president of The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, and he has been a spokesperson for Virginia's 34 state parks since 2003.

Further Achievements in Conservation

• 2008 - The Governor's Environmental Excellence Award
• Honorary co-leader of the Virginia Natural History Museum in Martinsville fundraising efforts
• Partner with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to create awareness for the need to protect and create additional wetlands in America.
• Involved with the 4-H clubs in Alabama and Virginia through PSAs and assisting 4-H clubs to conduct wildlife enhancement programs on Foundation land.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

Camping World Truck Series

Daytona 500 Results

References

• The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998-99, by Bill Fleischman and Al Pearce (1999)
• wardburton.com

External links

• Official website
• Ward Burton driver statistics at Racing Reference
• The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation