Jeff Burton Homestead-Miami Race Preview
Official Team Report
Jeff Burton - No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
Event/Date: Ford 400 - November 19, 2006
Venue: Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, Fla.
Jeff Burton's NASCAR Cup Series Performance History at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Date Start Finish Laps Status Money
11/20/2005 16 25 266 267 Running $91,770
11/21/2004 40 36 231 271 Running $57,935
11/16/2003 36 14 267 267 Running $85,742
11/17/2002 7 3 267 267 Running $195,342
11/11/2001 19 4 267 267 Running $149,371
11/12/2000 31 11 265 267 Running $61,225
11/14/1999 21 3 267 267 Running $164,100
Totals/Avg. 24.3 13.7 1,830 1,873 -- $805,485
NOTES:
* This Week's Race Car Homestead-Miami Speedway … Jeff Burton will race Chassis No. 173 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same Cingular Chevrolet Burton drove to a sixth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, ninth-place finishes in both races at Pocono and a runner-up effort at Chicagoland Speedway. Burton sat on the pole at Michigan with this car in August before a blown engine resulted in a 42nd-place finish. This car finished 16th at California Speedway in September, notched a third-place last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway and most recently finished 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
* Stat Facts … In seven starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jeff Burton boasts three top-five and three top-10 finishes and no DNFs to go along with his Busch Series victory in 1998 at the South Florida track.
* Top 10 marker … With Burton's 10th-place finish at Phoenix his season total for top-10s grew to 20, second only behind current points leader Jimmie Johnson. The last time Burton topped the 20-time marker for top-10 finishes was 2000 when he finished third in points.
* Testing, testing … Burton and Team Cingular tested at Homestead-Miami Speedway October 16-17 in preparation for the Nov. 19 season finale.
* State of NASCAR … Team Cingular driver Jeff Burton will join fellow competitors Mark Martin and Greg Biffle on ‘The State of NASCAR', a special edition of Wind Tunnel with host Dave Despain from Homestead-Miami Speedway. The one hour show will feature roundtable discussions on NASCAR with journalists, drivers and owners and will air prior to the season finale Ford 400 on SPEED Sunday, Nov. 19 from 10-11 a.m. EST
* Make it Four, for RCR … RCR's newest driver Scott Wimmer will attempt to qualify the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for the Ford 400, making it four entries for RCR. Wimmer, a five-time winner in NASCAR's Busch Series, will split driving duties with Jeff Burton in the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series campaign.
* Meet the Driver … Burton is scheduled to meet fans and sign autographs Thursday, November 16 from 5-7 p.m. at the Cingular Wireless store located at 825 N. Homestead Blvd., Homestead, Fla.
8 Up to Speed … The NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be televised live Sunday, November 19 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on NBC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the final event on the 2006 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will take the green flag at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday, November 17 and will be broadcast live on SPEED, MRN and XM Satellite Radio.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
The track configuration at Homestead has changed quite a bit over the seven years NASCAR has raced at the track. Do you like the current configuration?
"It's now a very oddly built race track. It has a really fast exit to the corners but one of the slowest entries to the corners on the circuit. You have to drive Homestead differently than any other track we go to. You have to go in there and be careful to not have to tight of a box with your set up. The mind set of a driver has to be open to try things. So you have to go be careful going to Homestead not to go in with too tight of a box on your set up or in your mind set as a driver needs to be open to different option because it is such a different race track."
Is it hard to find a good line around the track with the progressive banking?
"I think you definitely have to hunt for the best line. As a driver you have to be open to trying the different lines to find which works best for your car. The problem is when you are trying to get your car set up in practice, what line do you run? It's really easy to set your car up for one line then move somewhere else and it doesn't work as well. You really have to get committed to where you want to be and stay there."
Jeff Burton 2006 Statistics
Race St Fin Laps Status Points Money
Daytona 500 1 32 202/203 Running 31 $302,603
California 6 5 251/251 Running 14 158,970
Las Vegas 8 7 270/270 Running 10 145,270
Atlanta 3 25 324/325 Running 11 97,870
Bristol 18 34 467/500 Running 18 107,875
Martinsville 20 33 426/500 Running 21 92,845
Texas 21 6 334/334 Running 16 172,220
Phoenix 37 9 312/312 Running 13 108,870
Talladega 40 4 188/188 Running 12 176,745
Richmond 15 15 399/400 Running 12 98,270
Darlington 20 9 367/367 Running 10 115,320
Charlotte 11 6 400/400 Running 8 154,420
Dover 17 4 400/400 Running 7 164,245
Pocono 5 9 200/200 Running 7 104,520
Michigan 12 11 129/129* Running 7 109,295
Sonoma 13 7 110/110 Running 6 122,120
Daytona 39 15 160/160 Running 7 122,920
Chicago 1 2 270/270 Running 4 255,220
Pocono 6 9 200 /200 Running 3 105,720
Indianapolis 1 15 160/160 Running 3 243,995
Watkins Glen 16 11 90/90 Running 4 97,645
Michigan 1 42 17/200 Engine - 100,530
Bristol 2 9 500/500 Running 7 145,720
California 7 16 250/250 Running 10 120,145
Richmond II 2 9 400/400 Running 8 104,995
New Hamp. II 22 7 300/300 Running 5 137,570
Dover II 19 1 400/400 Running 1 230,370
Kansas 10 5 267/267 Running 1 155,595
Talladega 34 27 188/188 Running 1 99,845
Charlotte II 6 3 334/334 Running 1 176,870
Martinsville 28 42 217/500 Engine - 90,605
Atlanta II 5 13 323/325 Running 5 122,595
Texas II 29 38 269/339 Running 7 118,595
Phoenix II 18 10 312/312 Running 7 108,845
Total/Avg. 14.2 14.5 9,727/10,392 -- 7 $4,796,04
* Rain-out
STARTS WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 POLES POINTS
35 1 7 20 4 7
Official Team Report
Jeff Burton - No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
Event/Date: Ford 400 - November 19, 2006
Venue: Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, Fla.
Jeff Burton's NASCAR Cup Series Performance History at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Date Start Finish Laps Status Money
11/20/2005 16 25 266 267 Running $91,770
11/21/2004 40 36 231 271 Running $57,935
11/16/2003 36 14 267 267 Running $85,742
11/17/2002 7 3 267 267 Running $195,342
11/11/2001 19 4 267 267 Running $149,371
11/12/2000 31 11 265 267 Running $61,225
11/14/1999 21 3 267 267 Running $164,100
Totals/Avg. 24.3 13.7 1,830 1,873 -- $805,485
NOTES:
* This Week's Race Car Homestead-Miami Speedway … Jeff Burton will race Chassis No. 173 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for 2006, this is the same Cingular Chevrolet Burton drove to a sixth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, ninth-place finishes in both races at Pocono and a runner-up effort at Chicagoland Speedway. Burton sat on the pole at Michigan with this car in August before a blown engine resulted in a 42nd-place finish. This car finished 16th at California Speedway in September, notched a third-place last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway and most recently finished 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
* Stat Facts … In seven starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jeff Burton boasts three top-five and three top-10 finishes and no DNFs to go along with his Busch Series victory in 1998 at the South Florida track.
* Top 10 marker … With Burton's 10th-place finish at Phoenix his season total for top-10s grew to 20, second only behind current points leader Jimmie Johnson. The last time Burton topped the 20-time marker for top-10 finishes was 2000 when he finished third in points.
* Testing, testing … Burton and Team Cingular tested at Homestead-Miami Speedway October 16-17 in preparation for the Nov. 19 season finale.
* State of NASCAR … Team Cingular driver Jeff Burton will join fellow competitors Mark Martin and Greg Biffle on ‘The State of NASCAR', a special edition of Wind Tunnel with host Dave Despain from Homestead-Miami Speedway. The one hour show will feature roundtable discussions on NASCAR with journalists, drivers and owners and will air prior to the season finale Ford 400 on SPEED Sunday, Nov. 19 from 10-11 a.m. EST
* Make it Four, for RCR … RCR's newest driver Scott Wimmer will attempt to qualify the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for the Ford 400, making it four entries for RCR. Wimmer, a five-time winner in NASCAR's Busch Series, will split driving duties with Jeff Burton in the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series campaign.
* Meet the Driver … Burton is scheduled to meet fans and sign autographs Thursday, November 16 from 5-7 p.m. at the Cingular Wireless store located at 825 N. Homestead Blvd., Homestead, Fla.
8 Up to Speed … The NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be televised live Sunday, November 19 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on NBC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the final event on the 2006 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will take the green flag at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday, November 17 and will be broadcast live on SPEED, MRN and XM Satellite Radio.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
The track configuration at Homestead has changed quite a bit over the seven years NASCAR has raced at the track. Do you like the current configuration?
"It's now a very oddly built race track. It has a really fast exit to the corners but one of the slowest entries to the corners on the circuit. You have to drive Homestead differently than any other track we go to. You have to go in there and be careful to not have to tight of a box with your set up. The mind set of a driver has to be open to try things. So you have to go be careful going to Homestead not to go in with too tight of a box on your set up or in your mind set as a driver needs to be open to different option because it is such a different race track."
Is it hard to find a good line around the track with the progressive banking?
"I think you definitely have to hunt for the best line. As a driver you have to be open to trying the different lines to find which works best for your car. The problem is when you are trying to get your car set up in practice, what line do you run? It's really easy to set your car up for one line then move somewhere else and it doesn't work as well. You really have to get committed to where you want to be and stay there."
Jeff Burton 2006 Statistics
Race St Fin Laps Status Points Money
Daytona 500 1 32 202/203 Running 31 $302,603
California 6 5 251/251 Running 14 158,970
Las Vegas 8 7 270/270 Running 10 145,270
Atlanta 3 25 324/325 Running 11 97,870
Bristol 18 34 467/500 Running 18 107,875
Martinsville 20 33 426/500 Running 21 92,845
Texas 21 6 334/334 Running 16 172,220
Phoenix 37 9 312/312 Running 13 108,870
Talladega 40 4 188/188 Running 12 176,745
Richmond 15 15 399/400 Running 12 98,270
Darlington 20 9 367/367 Running 10 115,320
Charlotte 11 6 400/400 Running 8 154,420
Dover 17 4 400/400 Running 7 164,245
Pocono 5 9 200/200 Running 7 104,520
Michigan 12 11 129/129* Running 7 109,295
Sonoma 13 7 110/110 Running 6 122,120
Daytona 39 15 160/160 Running 7 122,920
Chicago 1 2 270/270 Running 4 255,220
Pocono 6 9 200 /200 Running 3 105,720
Indianapolis 1 15 160/160 Running 3 243,995
Watkins Glen 16 11 90/90 Running 4 97,645
Michigan 1 42 17/200 Engine - 100,530
Bristol 2 9 500/500 Running 7 145,720
California 7 16 250/250 Running 10 120,145
Richmond II 2 9 400/400 Running 8 104,995
New Hamp. II 22 7 300/300 Running 5 137,570
Dover II 19 1 400/400 Running 1 230,370
Kansas 10 5 267/267 Running 1 155,595
Talladega 34 27 188/188 Running 1 99,845
Charlotte II 6 3 334/334 Running 1 176,870
Martinsville 28 42 217/500 Engine - 90,605
Atlanta II 5 13 323/325 Running 5 122,595
Texas II 29 38 269/339 Running 7 118,595
Phoenix II 18 10 312/312 Running 7 108,845
Total/Avg. 14.2 14.5 9,727/10,392 -- 7 $4,796,04
* Rain-out
STARTS WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 POLES POINTS
35 1 7 20 4 7
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