Jeff Burton
Encyclopedia : J : JE : JEF : Jeff Burton
| 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 in NASCAR>2005 NEXTEL Cup Position: | 18th | |
| Best Cup Position: | 3rd - 2000 (Winston Cup) | |
| First Race: | 1993 Slick 50 300 (New Hampshire) | |
| First Win: | 1997 Interstate Batteries 500 (Texas) | |
| Last Win: | 2001 Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil (Phoenix) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 17 | 167 | 4 |
| All stats current as of July 9, 2006. | ||
NASCAR career
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, 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 in Nashville Speedway USA. 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. This 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.
Burton won the pole for the 2006 Daytona 500, his first in the NEXTEL Cup since the 2000 season, and also won the pole for the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. He also won a Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, ending a four-year winless streak. He also won the Busch race at Dover International Speedway.
External links
- [Official site]
- [NASCAR and IROC drivers statistics at racing-reference.com]
- [Jeff Burton at NASCAR.com]
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