NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Hot Teams and More
Jeff Burton {No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet Impala SS}
Season Rewind
Over the season’s first nine races, the South Boston, Va., native has claimed one win, three top-five and six top-10 finishes and has yet to finish worse than 13th. The 20-time Cup Series winner took over the NASCAR Cup Series championship points lead after posting a third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway and has held the top spot since then. He currently leads second-place Kyle Busch by 22 markers.
Don’t Miss a Beat
This weekend Burton’s AT&T Chevy will be one of four cars featured on DIRECTV’s HotPass Coverage. With a channel dedicated solely to the AT&T Racing team during the Crown Royal 400, fans will be able to watch all the action through DIRECTV’s multiple camera angles, real-time car telemetry and listen to in-car audio communication. NASCAR HotPass, only on DIRECTV, features four driver channels including dedicated announcers for each team. The service, combined with race day telecasts and nascar.com coverage, gives fans the most comprehensive and powerful NASCAR experience possible. Burton’s team will be showcased on DIRECTV channel 792 and DIRECTV’s HD channel 797.
Carry Me Back to Old Virginia
Five members of the AT&T Racing team hail from the Old Dominion State. AT&T driver Jeff Burton was born and raised in South Boston. Gear specialist and fuel runner Curt Bowman calls Meadows of Dan his hometown. Transporter driver Franky Nester was born in Ridgeway and now resides in Stoneville. Gear specialist Greg Meredith was born and still resides in Fancy Gap and tire specialist Tracey Ramsey is from Waynesboro.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
You’re having a good season so far – current point leader and you haven’t finished worse than 13th.
“I feel good about where we are. I feel good about the work we’re putting in to our race cars. I feel good that we’re working hard to answer the challenge of being better as the year gets on. I can’t ask for a whole lot more from my team and I can’t ask for a whole lot more from myself. We have to make sure we’re efficient and we have to make sure we continue to improve. If we do those things and have some fortune, then it can be our year. We can’t control what our competition is doing. Maybe they learn more than we do, I don’t know. We can only control what we do and hopefully we’re responding to the areas that we need to be stronger in. If we continue to do that then we’ll be alright.”
What makes Richmond a hard track to figure out and why have some drivers been able to figure it out and others have not?
“It takes a lot of different stuff to run well on a short track. I think things get magnified on a short track. Being off a little bit makes you off a lot more on those tracks. I don’t think it’s unlike Martinsville, Phoenix or New Hampshire. There seems to be some teams that do a better job of being ready and some drivers that do a better job of being ready for that type of racing because it is different than what we’re doing at intermediate tracks. You do drive the cars different and you set them up differently. So there are a lot of factors that go into it. Having cars that drive well and having a driver that does well on those race tracks are very important. You can’t deny that some drivers do a better job at that type of race track than others. Kevin (Harvick) is a good example. He always runs well at those race tracks and you can’t deny that it has something to do with his driving.”
Richmond is one of your favorite tracks. Why?
“I just think for the teams, for the fans and for everybody that it takes to make this sport work, it’s the best all-around track. Richmond has good racing action. It’s big enough where it’s not wreck after wreck, but small enough where it’s close side-by-side action since you have multiple grooves. To me, it’s a really hard race track to beat competition-wise.”
Clint Bowyer (No. 07 BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS)
A Tale of Talladega
Last weekend at Talladega, Bowyer started 41st and finished ninth. The 28-year old driver stayed out of trouble all day and recorded his career-best Sprint Cup Series finish at the 2.66-mile Alabama oval.
2008 in Review
Since finishing no better than 19th in the season’s first three races, Bowyer and his Gil Martin-led crew have put together an impressive string of six consecutive top-10 finishes to catapult themselves all the way from 24th to seventh in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings. In the last six races, Bowyer has an impressive 6.6 finishing average. Since finishing 28th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he has earned a pair of top fives and six top-10 finishes.
Keep on Rolling
Bowyer has been running at the end of every race dating back to Phoenix in November 2006, a streak of 46 races. The only other driver running at the end of more consecutive races is Bowyer’s RCR teammate Kevin Harvick who owns a streak of 53 events without a did not finish (DNF).
Rolling In Richmond
In addition to his duties behind the wheel of the No. 07 BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS, Bowyer returns to the seat of the No. 2 BB&T Chevy Monte Carlo SS for this weekend’s Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Live coverage of the 11th of 35 races on the 2008 Nationwide Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, May 2 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised the same day on SPEED beginning at 4 p.m. EDT. Despite finishing 25th last weekend at Talladega, Bowyer maintains the Nationwide Series points lead. He paces second place Carl Edwards by 27 points and holds a 39-point advantage over Kyle Busch in third. Bowyer is the defending race winner.
CLINT BOWYER QUOTES
You’ve been pretty consistent at Richmond. You finished ninth and 12th last season. Can you start running consistently in the top five?
“I hope we can. Richmond is one of my favorite race tracks. We won a Nationwide race there last year so I’m really looking forward to getting back there. I felt like we had a car that was capable of winning last fall. It was the last race before the Chase started and I got a little greedy and spun out going for the lead. We’ve always had strong cars at Richmond. We need to work on our consistency. We’ve had the speed at Richmond. We’ve had the good runs. We just need to be a little more consistent. It’s a good track for the BB&T team so I’m looking forward to it.”
Is Richmond the perfect race track?
“I think Richmond is the perfect race track. I think it’s the perfect size. The track races well and it puts on a good show for the fans. It’s night racing and that’s what we all grew up doing. Everything about it is good.”
Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS)
Mr. Consistency
Harvick has not recorded a DNF in 53 consecutive races, which is the longest active streak. Additionally, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner holds the modern era record with 58 consecutive races without a DNF (10/3/2002-8/1/2004).
Double Down
In addition to his driving duties the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, Harvick, a 32-time race winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will drive the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet in the May 2 Lipton Tea 250 at RIR. The race will be televised on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 11th race of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series will be televised on ESPN2 the same day beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
Do you approach RIR as more of a short track or a speedway?
“It really is a little of both but I think you have to go in with the short-track mindset. There is more contact at Richmond than you have at a bigger track. I think sometimes drivers use the short track as an excuse to beat and bang, but as tight as the racing is there, it’s hard to not have incidental contact.”
“I enjoy being home on Sunday, I can tell you that much. You get Sunday afternoon to get back in the swing of things earlier in the week instead of having to waste Monday. I also enjoy racing at night. I think everybody enjoys the cooler temperatures and the night atmosphere.”
Do you enjoy racing at Richmond?
“We have been able to run really good at Richmond since I have been at RCR. We have been able to win three Nationwide Series races in a row and finish first and second in the Cup car in 2006. Richmond is one of those places where I really enjoy racing. You can move the car all over the race track. It seems like the groove moves around as the race goes on. I am just really comfortable racing at Richmond and I hope for another great finish this weekend.”
Waiting Headlines
Dale Earnhardt Jr. {No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet} Denny Hamlin Clint Bowyer (No. 07 BB&T Chevrolet Impala SS) Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet Impala SS) Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS)
Disclaimer: NASCAR® is a registered trademark owned and controlled by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. Nextel Cup and Sprint Cup are registered trademarks. The operators of this site are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the NASCAR organization. The Official NASCAR® website is NASCAR ONLINE® at: www.nascar.com.