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Sponsor:
Caterpillar
Manufacturer:
Chevrolet
Owner:
Richard Childress
Team:
Richard Childress Racing
Hometown: South Boston, Virginia
Early Career
Burton began racing go-karts in and around Virginia when he was just seven years old. Two state championships (and four runner-up finishes) led Burton first to the pure stock division at South Boston Speedway in 1984 and then to the Late Model Series. In 1986, just his second season, he won six late model races. He followed that performance by winning seven of 21 races in 1988 (the same year he made his Nationwide Series debut) and being voted the most popular driver at South Boston Speedway.
Nationwide Career
Burton began his Nationwide career in a car fielded by his father, John. In 32 races (five in 1988 and 27 in 1989), he earned two top-fives and four other top-10 finishes; he finished 13th in points in 1989. Still, it was good enough to convince series pioneer Sam Ard to sign Burton for the 1990 season and he earned his first Nationwide win that year at Martinsville. He went on to win races in each of the next three seasons as well and finished a career-best ninth in points in 1992.
Burton’s last full season in Nationwide was 1993, the same year he made his Sprint Cup Series debut. However, despite running fewer races, he’s enjoyed much more success, winning 23 races (in 126 starts) since becoming a part-time participant in 1997.
Cup Career
Burton’s Cup career began in 1993 when he drove a car fielded by the wonderfully-named Filbert Martocci. But his career began in earnest the following year when he drove the full season in the #8 Ford for William Stavola, the team with which Bobby Allison ended his career. His two top-five finishes and 24th-place in the championship race were enough to earn him the Rookie of the Year award, but the following year, he managed just one top five and a 32nd-place in the points.
The game changed for Burton when he joined Roush Racing for the 1996 season. Though he wouldn’t win his first race until the following year, he notched six top-five finishes and finished a respectable 13th in the championship race. In 1997, he emerged, almost fully formed, as one of the circuit’s best drivers, winning three times, finishing in the top five another 1o times, and finishing fourth overall. In almost nine full seasons with Roush, Burton won 17 races and finished in the top five in the championship race four straight years (1997 – 2000).
After “slumping” in 2002, 2003 and through the first 22 races of 2004 – he finished 12th in points in ’02 and ’03 and was 18th – Burton signed with Richard Childress Racing. In a bit more than three full seasons driving for RCR, Burton has won four races and finished seventh-or-better in the Chase for the Championship. But perhaps even more important, Burton has lent stability to an organization that floundered a bit in the wake of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death in 2001. Additionally, the always thoughtful and equally intelligent Virginian has cemented his place as one of NASCAR’s most informed, eloquent, and reasonable critics – he’s affectionately referred to as the “Mayor of the Garage.”
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