NOTES:
· This Week’s AT&T
Chevrolet at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway for the NASCAR
All-Star Race … Jeff Burton
will race chassis No. 243
from the Richard Childress
Racing NASCAR Cup Series
stable. Built new for the
2008 season, this is the
same car Burton drove to a
sixth-place finish at Texas
Motor Speedway earlier this
year.
· Stat Facts …
o In 15 full seasons in
the NASCAR Cup Series,
Burton has competed in the
NASCAR All-Star Race 10
times, posting his best
finish of fourth in 1998 and
2007. He has two top-five
and five top-10 finishes in
the NASCAR All-Star Race.
o Burton became eligible
to compete in this year’s
NASCAR All-Star Race when he
won at Texas in April 2007.
The South Boston, Va.,
native followed up that
victory with a win at
Bristol Motor Speedway
earlier this year.
o Burton won the 2003
Open, claiming the final
transfer position for The
All-Star event where he went
on to finish ninth.
· Point of Interest …
AT&T driver Jeff Burton
currently sits second in the
NASCAR Cup Series point
standings with RCR teammates
Clint Bowyer and Kevin
Harvick holding down the
fifth and ninth spots,
respectively. The 20-time
Cup Series winner sits 79
markers behind point leader
Kyle Busch.
· NASCAR Pit Crew
Challenge … The AT&T Pit
Crew will participate in the
NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge
Thursday, May 15 at 7 p.m.
at the Time Warner Cable
Arena in Charlotte, N.C. All
qualified teams for the
NASCAR All-Star Race are
eligible to compete, which
includes NASCAR Cup Series
race winners from 2007 and
2008, NASCAR All-Star Race
winners of the past 10
years, and NASCAR Cup Series
Champions of the past 10
years who are active drivers
and have competed in at
least one Series event
during the 2007 or 2008
season. Also eligible is the
2007 Pit Crew Challenge
winner. The remaining
unfilled positions will be
available to the car owners
ranked highest in the 2008
NASCAR Cup Series
championship owner points
standing as of May 13, 2008,
who are not otherwise
eligible for the event.
Seven members of each team
are allowed to compete. For
ticket information, visit
www.pitcrewchallenge.com or
call 1-800-495-2295.
· Four All-Star Wins for
RCR … RCR has won four
NASCAR All-Star Races
(formerly The Winston), the
most recent coming last year
with Harvick. Dale Earnhardt
won the event in 1987, which
included the legendary “Pass
in the Grass.” Earnhardt
also went on to claim the
checkered flag in 1990 and
1993.
· Testing One, Two,
Three, Testing … Burton and
the AT&T Racing team tested
at Lowe’s Motor Speedway May
5-6 in preparation for the
All-Star Race and next
weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. The
test was the fifth of seven
allowed under NASCAR’s 2008
testing policy. The
remaining tests available to
teams in NASCAR’s top
division will be conducted
at Pocono Raceway (May
27-28) and Lowe’s Motor
Speedway (Sept. 23-24).
· Meet the Press … Burton
will be available inside
Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s
infield media center on
Friday, May 16 at 11:15 a.m.
to field questions from the
gathered media.
· Up to Speed … Live
coverage of the NASCAR
Showdown and the NASCAR
All-Star Race begins
Saturday, May 17 at 7 p.m.
Eastern Daylight Time on
SPEED. The race will be
covered live on the Motor
Racing Network and Sirius
Satellite Radio. Qualifying
is scheduled for Friday,
March 16 at 5 p.m. EDT and
will be aired live on SPEED.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Do you remember the first
time you competed in an
All-Star event?
“I distinctly remember
the first time I competed in
it. I stood on the front
straightaway (in 1994)
during driver introductions.
It was a dark night so you
couldn’t see the crowd, but
you could hear them and feel
them. I remember thinking,
‘This is what excitement is
all about and what a
pre-race event ought to be.’
I will never forget that
feeling.”
Is competing in the
All-Star Race still a big
deal to you?
“It’s an honor to be in
the race. It’s a special
race and fans get really get
excited about it. It’s a
huge deal. The reason I know
it’s a big deal is because I
have not been in it. The
times when we didn’t run
well enough to be in it
really hurt. Having the
perspective of being in the
All-Star Race makes you want
to run well all the time so
you don’t miss out on not
being in the race.”
What do you think of the
new All-Star format?
“I don’t care if they
change the format. However,
I think the format should
produce good racing. When I
say good racing, I think it
needs to be a
reasonable-length race so
the fans and drivers can see
some exciting racing. I
think that a driver that has
one bad lap should have a
chance to come back and
still win. I think shorter
races create more excitement
because the longer the runs,
the more the cars get spread
out. At the same time, you
have to be careful and not
make the segments too
short.”
The All-Star Race
qualifying format includes
not only you as the driver,
but the team as well. What
are your thoughts on that?
“That’s how it ought to
be. The driver gets so much
attention and notoriety
where the pit crews don’t
get nearly as much as what
they deserve. It’s cool that
the pit crew is such a big
part of how we qualify. They
play a big part in the
team’s overall performance
week in and week out that
they deserve to be
recognized in the All-Star
event, as well.”