Catchfence

2009 NSCS Jeff Burton - (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

· This Week’s Prilosec OTC – Walmart Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway … Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 255 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s Crown Royal 400. Built new for 2008, this is the same Chevy Impala SS Burton drove to a 21st-place finish at Pocono last August where a late-race pit road penalty cost him a potential top-five finish. Two weeks later, the veteran driver piloted this machine to an 11th-place effort at Michigan. He then drove this chassis to a seventh-place finish at Kansas, a 13th-place effort at Texas in November and then capped off the season at Homestead-Miami where myriad handling issues, coupled with a mid-race incident, relegated Burton to a 40th-place result. Since then, this No. 31 racer has been converted from its original downforce configuration into a short-track car. It made its 2009 debut at Martinsville in March where Burton finished 15th.

· Last Time Around … Burton and Company overcame a 33rd-place starting position to earn an 11th-place effort in last season’s Crown Royal 400. The veteran driver worked his way up to the top 15 by the halfway mark, but became a victim of circumstance when an 11-car pile up occurred on lap 229. Fortunately, Burton was able to escape the melee with only slight fender damage. Despite tussling with an ill-tempered No. 31 Chevy over the remaining laps, the 40-year-old driver soldiered his way to an 11th-place finish.

· Richmond Report … In 29 Sprint Cup Series starts at RIR, Burton boasts one pole, one win, seven top fives, 13 top 10s and has led 899 laps of competition.

· RCR at RIR … Richard Childress is tied for fourth with Bud Moore for car owner victories at Richmond with seven – five with Dale Earnhardt, one with Kevin Harvick and RCR’s most recent checkered flag at “The Action Track” when Clint Bowyer won last May. Additionally, in 107 starts at RIR, RCR boasts 29 top-five and 50 top-10 finishes with nine different drivers including Earnhardt, Bowyer, Burton, Jeff Green, Robby Gordon, Harvick, Ricky Rudd and Mike Skinner. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, contributed three of those top 10s from 1976-1978.

· Friday Night Lights … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 31 Prilosec OTC – Walmart Chevrolet, Burton, a 27-time race winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will drive RCR’s No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet in the Lipton Tea 250 Friday, May 1. The race will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will also be broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

· Ride Shotgun with Burton … This weekend Burton and the No. 31 team will be one of four cars featured on DIRECTV’s HotPass. With a channel dedicated solely to the RCR team during the race, 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. The Scott Miller-led team will be showcased on DIRECTV channel xxx.

· Carry Me Back to Old Virginia … Six members of the No. 31 team hail from the Old Dominion State. Driver Jeff Burton was born and raised in South Boston. Mechanic and fuel runner Curt Bowman calls Meadows of Dan his hometown. Transporter driver Franky Nester was born in Ridgeway and now resides in Stoneville while his co-driver James Nunn calls Ararat home. Gear specialist Greg Meredith was born and still resides in Fancy Gap while tire specialist Tracey Ramsey hails from Fredericksburg.

· Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your BBQ … The Prilosec OTC BBQ Shootout Series rolls into RIR, making the second stop on a six-city nation wide tour during the 2009 NASCAR season. Race fans will have the opportunity to sample award winning BBQ cooked up by Championship Pit Masters from across the country as well as meeting Burton and team owner Richard Childress. Whether the Pit Masters throw down with a dry rub or zesty sauce, lip-smacking BBQ will be available for fans on-site to enjoy. For more information, please visit www.BBQShootoutSeries.com.

· Meet the Driver … On behalf of sponsor Prilosec OTC, Burton will sign autographs at the Walmart store located at 7901 Brook Road in Richmond on Thursday, April 30 from 7 – 8 p.m. The store is situated four miles north of the race track. A limited number of tickets will be available for autographs on a first come, first served basis due to time constraints.

· Meet the 31 Crew … The No. 31 over-the-wall crew will be signing autographs Saturday, May 2 8 beginning at 4 p.m. at the Chevrolet display, located on speedway property just outside Turn 4.

· Catch the Action … The Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 at RIR will be televised live Saturday, May 2 beginning at 7 p.m. EDT on FOX and will be broadcast live on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 10th of 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events will take the green flag at 5:30 p.m. EDT Friday, May 1 and will be telecast live on SPEED. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:

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 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.”

What are the key factors to getting a good finish at Richmond?

“Richmond is one of the places where handling means everything. The key factors in running well is getting through the center of the corners and throttling up without losing rear grip. It sounds simple to do, but the one that wins did it the best.”

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.”

- Richard Childess Racing, Press Release