Jeff Burton
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey T. "Jeff" Burton, nicknamed "The Mayor", is an American retired stock car racing driver. He scored 21 career victories in the Sprint Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in 1999 and 2001 and the 1999 Southern 500. He currently serves as a color analyst for NBC Sports, having joined them upon their return to their coverage of NASCAR. His brother Ward Burton and his nephew Jeb Burton have also competed in the Sprint Cup Series...
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth29 June 1967
CitySouth Boston, VA
knew running shot
I knew we had a shot a running well but I didn't know we could run that well.
bristol jeff lap pace reason rhythm run rusty speed wallace
Bristol for me is very much a rhythm track, especially in race-pace. One reason Rusty Wallace has done so well, and Jeff Gordon, is that those are pace kind of guys. They can run the same lap speed consistently.
best car counted fast good runs solid stopped tires track
We had a fast car on the track but we stopped and put on tires and we got too tight. On long runs we were really good. It was a solid day for us. We were our best when it counted and that is a good thing.
dig heels knocked last ourselves priorities race running trying wins year
For us, every race is important when you've been knocked back on your heels and you're trying to get back in the fight. Right now, we don't have to dig ourselves out of a hole. If we keep running the way we're running, we'll get our wins and we'll do what we need to do in points. Our priorities have to be going fast. That's what we couldn't do last year. That's what I couldn't do the year before, or the year before that. That's what I have been able to do this year.
bit bristol cases certainly chance definitely everywhere fourth happen hopefully improved ourselves past position pull run second time tiny track win
Well, we've definitely run well there in the past and put ourselves in position to win. I've run second at Bristol and fourth at Bristol with this team. Every time we've been there we've been very competitive. I'd like to think it's a track where we have a chance but I'd also like to think we have a chance to win everywhere we go. Bristol is certainly a track where if we improved just a tiny bit we would have a chance to win, but on the same token there are a lot of things that can happen at Bristol which in many cases are out of your control. Hopefully we can pull it off.
dig ourselves running wins
It is early, but it's better than being 20th. Right now, we're not having to dig ourselves out of a hole. ...But if we keep running the way we're running we'll get our wins and we'll do what we need to do in points.
anybody extremely front guy maybe proven running strong
Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but when I look at it, I see an extremely strong front bumper. I don't think it's going to keep anybody from running into the back of the guy in front of him at all.
running feel-good feelings
You can go from having all your stuff together and really feeling good about yourself to really figuring you can't run a lick.
competition deal driver focus hardest level logistics needs run team understanding
The hardest thing that I've had to deal with is the understanding that I can't do everything. I just don't think that the driver can run the team anymore. I think he needs to be able to concentrate on driving.?The competition level is so big now, I need to focus on racing, not on the logistics part of it.
honesty impact matter messing today turn
In all honesty, it's a matter of me not messing up. Today had nothing to do with me. The only impact I had on the day was to be a warm-blooded person who could turn the thing on and mash the gas.
crowd hoping pulling
I'm really hoping they're in it because I know the whole crowd will be pulling for them.
bottle certainly door environment gone knocking laughed saying ten toward
It's such a different environment, I can't even tell you. Ten years ago, knocking on somebody's door saying 'Do you have a bottle of wine?', they would have laughed at me. It certainly has gone more toward wine-drinking than just beer-drinking for sure.
everybody
Everybody is doing it and doing it pretty well.
mental physical race
It's very much a mental race but very physical at the same time.