For the second successive season, Jeff Burton will compete in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.
Jeff Burton currently drives the 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet owned by Richard Childress Racing. In 2007, Burton qualified for the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship for the second consecutive season. Since veteran Mark Martin no longer runs a full schedule on the Nextel Cup circuit, Jeff Burton has emerged as the sentimental favorite to capture the Nextel Cup championship.
Not only is Jeff Burton one of NASCAR’s most skilled drivers, he is also one of the most respected and admired drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage.
Jeff Burton was born on June 29, 1967 and raised in South Boston, Virginia. Burton wanted to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother Ward, who became a successful short track driver in Virginia.
Burton’s racing career was set in motion at the age of 7 as he began racing go-karts. Burton would go on to win two Virginia go-kart state championships which led him to stock car racing in 1984 at the age of seventeen.
Burton became a frequent winner at his home track in South Boston, Virginia. After winning a total of thirteen races from 1986 to 1988, Burton graduated to the NASCAR Busch Series in a car fielded by his father John. Unfortunately, the father and son combination were unable to finish any better than 11th.
However, Burton continued to display flashes of potential, and was hired to drive a car fielded by Sam Ard, a Busch Series pioneer. Under the guidance of Ard, Burton won his first Busch Series race in Martinsville, Virgina in 1990.
In 1992, Jeff Burton finished a career high 9th in the final Busch Series championship standings driving Filbert Martocci’s fleet of Oldsmobiles. Burton made his Winston Cup debut at Loudon, New Hampshire driving for Martocci. After qualifying sixth, Burton’s debut ended after 86 laps due to an on-track accident.
Jeff Burton joined the Stavola Brothers Racing team in 1994. He would drive the Raybestos Brakes # 8 Ford. NASCAR legend Bobby Allison ended his career driving for the Stavola Brothers. Burton was unable earn a trip to victory lane in his rookie season, however, he would be named NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year, beating out his older brother Ward, Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti, and Joe Nemechek, all eventual winners in NASCAR.
It wasn’t until Jack Roush lured Burton over to his organization before the Virginia native had the breakout season that he had been waiting for. In 1996, Burton joined Mark Martin and Ted Musgrave at Roush Racing, now Roush Fenway Racing, and would pilot the #99 Exide Batteries Ford.
The 1997, Jeff Burton surfaced as a potent threat to NASCAR’s field of stars which included Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jarrett. He won three races and finished 5th in the final championship standings. He celebrated his first victory at Texas Motor Speedway in April of that year. He also became the first driver to ever win at Texas Motor Speedway.
From 1997 to 2001, only Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett visited victory lane more times than Jeff Burton. In that five-year span, Burton accumulated 17 wins, and finished as high as third in the Winston Cup championship standings in 2000.
In September of 2000, Jeff Burton made history at the New Hampshire International Speedway as he led all 300 laps paced around the 1.058-mile oval. Burton became the first driver to lead a race from start to finish since Cale Yarborough at Nashville in 1978.
In the fall of 2000, CITGO replaced Exide Batteries as Jeff Burton’s primary sponsor.
After winning at Phoenix in November of 2001, Burton would encounter a winless drought that lasted until October of 2006.
After finishing the 2002 and 2003 seasons with a doughnut in the win column, Burton entered the 2004 Nextel Cup season without a primary sponsor. After months of week-to-week sponsorship packages, Burton and Jack Roush amicably parted ways in August of 2004. He joined Richard Childress Racing with the support of America Online. He replaced Dave Blaney in the #30 AOL Chevrolet. In 2005, Cingular Wireless, now AT&T Mobility, became the primary sponsor of Burton’s #31 Chevrolet.
In 2006, Burton qualified for the Chase for the Championship for the first time in his career.
After 175 races without a single victory, Jeff Burton won a thrilling battle with Matt Kenseth at Dover to end his agonizing winless streak. Burton ended the 2006 Nextel Cup season seventh in the championship standings.
In 2007, Burton once again came out on the winning end of a late race duel with Matt Kenseth at Texas to win his 19th career race. Uniformity throughout the 2007 season earned Burton a second opportunity to Chase the Nextel Cup championship.
Jeff Burton ended the 2007 season 8th in the final championship standings.
Check out the Clint Bowyer profile
