Jeff Burton

Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor",

Burton ran his first Winston Cup race in 1993 in the No. 0 TIC Financial-sponsored Ford Thunderbird for Fil Martocci.

Stavola Brothers Racing

1994 was Burton's rookie year in the Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 8

In 1996, Burton signed with

In late 2000, Burton and the No. 99 welcomed CITGO as a new sponsor. In 2001 Burton won another two races, upping his career total to 17, and he finished tenth in points, climbing from a season low of 38th, which was his position after four races. In 2002 and 2003, he finished 12th in the points and had eight Top 5s and 25 Top 10s combined, but failed to win a race in either year. CITGO then announced that they were leaving Roush Racing at the end of the 2003 season.

Burton ran the 2004 season without a primary sponsor, with races frequently being sponsored by his personal sponsor

Burton won the

Burton came very close to winning the 50th annual Daytona 500. He qualified 36th and by the end of the race, he had worked his way up in the field. He led prior to the race's final caution, but when the green flag dropped with four laps to go, lost several positions and wound up finishing 13th.

Burton won the

In 2009, Caterpillar signed on as a sponsor through 2011. Burton was expected to make a run for the championship but a poor season led Burton to miss the Chase for the first time since 2005. Burton's best finish that year was a pair of second-place finishes in the final two races at Phoenix and Homestead, which eventually put him 17th in points.

In 2010, he rebounded but he had still not won a race, though he made the Chase and finished second in both Dover races. He nearly won the fall Martinsville race but a flat tire with 15 laps remaining gave Denny Hamlin the win. A couple weeks later, he and Jeff Gordon got into a wreck long after the caution was out. Burton walked up the track to confront Gordon and the two got into a shoving match. Burton finished 12th in the final points standings. Afterward, Burton assumed responsibility for the incident, stating he was attempting to catch up to Gordon, but was unable to see in the sunlight's glare.^[6]

In 2011, Burton was looking for a better season, but a very bad season gave Burton a poor series of finishes. He won the second

On September 4, 2013, Richard Childress Racing announced that Burton would not be returning to RCR in 2014.^[8] On November 8, Burton stated that he would run a part-time schedule in 2014.^[7] Burton later said that he wanted to stay with RCR for 2014 to transition straight from racing to television, but RCR chose to sign Ryan Newman instead.^[2]

AT&T sponsorship controversy

Cingular Wireless began its sponsorship of the No. 31 Chevrolet in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series prior to 2004 when NEXTEL purchased the naming rights to NASCAR's top division. Cingular and

After failing to persuade NASCAR to approve the addition of the AT&T globe logo to the rear of the car, AT&T filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on March 16, 2007. On May 18, AT&T won a preliminary injunction and, following a failed emergency motion for a stay by NASCAR on May 19, rebranded the No. 31 car in time for the

On June 17, NASCAR announced it had filed a $100 million lawsuit against AT&T and would like AT&T and all other telecommunications companies out of the sport in 2008. The other rival company involved, Alltel, was in the process of being sold.[11]

On August 13, a ruling by a federal appeals court cleared the way for NASCAR to prevent AT&T, Inc. from featuring its logo on Burton's No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The court, therefore, threw out a lower court's ruling that prevented NASCAR from stopping AT&T's plans. The appeals court remanded the case to the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.^[12]

At first practice for the

On September 7, 2007, NASCAR announced that an agreement had been reached between Sprint Nextel and Richard Childress Racing which would allow AT&T to sponsor the No. 31 car through the end of the 2008 season. Under the terms of the agreement Burton was required to find a new sponsor by 2009.[14] On June 18, 2008, it was announced that RCR had secured sponsorship for the 31 of Burton. Caterpillar, which previously spent 10 years on the No. 22 of Bill Davis Racing and with Jeff's brother Ward driving from 1999 to 2003, signed a multi-year agreement with Richard Childress Racing to become the new primary sponsor of the 31 starting in 2009.^[15]

2014–2015: Part-time racer and move to television

NBC Sports

On December 3, 2013,

On December 2, 2013, it was announced that Burton had been hired by Michael Waltrip Racing to run a limited schedule for MWR's research-and-development team, Identity Ventures Racing.^[17] Burton made his debut in the No. 66 at Las Vegas.^[18]

Prior to Burton's scheduled start at Michigan, it was announced he would be replaced as R&D driver by Brett Moffitt, though he would be given one more start at Loudon, which was expected to be his final career race.

Stewart-Haas Racing

However, on August 14, 2014, Burton was picked up by

Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who is a former Cup Series driver. Married to wife Kim, they have two children: Paige and Harrison. Harrison, like his father, is a NASCAR driver, and currently races in the Cup Series.^[23] Burton also has another brother, Brian, who did not drive in NASCAR but rather took over the family's construction business. Burton currently^[when?] resides in Huntersville, North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

Burton's family ancestry can be traced back through Colonial Virginia where the landing of his earliest ancestor Richard Burton came over to the

Burton is a fan of Bruce Lee. At the Coca-Cola 500 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, he raced a special Bruce Lee paint scheme on his No. 99 Ford.^[24]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led ** – All laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Daytona 500

Nationwide Series

Craftsman Truck Series

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeff Burton.

• Official website
• Jeff Burton driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Jeff Burton at The Coca-Cola Racing Family

Achievements
Preceded by Jeff Gordon Matt Kenseth	Coca-Cola 600 Winner 1999 2001	Succeeded by Matt Kenseth Mark Martin
Preceded by Jeff Gordon	Southern 500 Winner 1999	Succeeded by Bobby Labonte
Awards
Preceded by Jeff Gordon	NASCAR Rookie of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Ricky Craven