Jeff Burton Winston Cup Driver - Interview

SCR: You won a pair of races in 2001 and finished 10th in the final Winston Cup standings, but that wasn't exactly what you were looking for at the start of the year, was it?
Burton: A good sign is the fact that that type of year isn't what we were looking for because that's really not a bad year. Everybody came up to me at some point last year and told me what a terrible year I was having. But we as a team won two races and finished 10th in the points. How many teams would love to have a season like that? Based on the fact there were 19 different winners last season, winning two races was very respectable. What I'm really disappointed about is the fact we just weren't as fast, at times, as we needed to be. The other times I was just dumb and got in wrecks I shouldn't have been in. Without those mistakes, we'd have finished fifth in the points last year. For some reason, I was a dumber driver the first part of last season than I was the year before. In the first third of the season, I was just dumb. I can't do that again this year; I just can't.

SCR: Through all that, you and crew chief Frankie Stoddard weathered the storm pretty well, wouldn't you say? You ended up last year with nine Top 10s in the last 11 races. That's a pretty good indicator the team was building consistency.
Burton: I'll put the last half of last season up against anybody as far comparing points and laps led. Frankie is a really intense person. He has a reputation of being too intense, but he stays calmer through the bad times than any other crew chief I can think of. He's willing to hear me say something needs to be done better. I'm able to hear him tell me there were some things I needed to be doing better as a driver. We just fight the fight together. If something on the No. 99 car doesn't work, it's as much a fault of mine as it is Frankie's. We are all in this thing together and we don't point the finger at each other.

SCR: I've listened to you and Frankie on the radio, and when you have a bad day, you're the first to let him know you are not happy about it. How important is it for a driver and crew chief to be able to communicate to each other through both the good and bad times and not take the comments personally?
Burton: I think it's critical because there are more days, by far, that you don't win than days when you do. You have to be able to stress what you feel like can make it better, whether it's the driver or the crew chief. If you can't do that, you're not being productive. If you're willing to talk about it, you've also got to be willing to hear about it, too. We don't take things personally because this is an emotional sport. One rule Jack Roush taught me was I would not have a conversation with NASCAR after the races unless I'm required to because emotions run high and you say things you don't mean later. Sitting here doing this interview, I wouldn't walk through my shop and yell at anybody. But if you put me in a 140-degree race car and somebody passes me, I'm going to be yelling at somebody even if it's myself. You have to have thick skin in this sport, and that's why egos will ruin you.

SCR: How close are you to your brother, Ward? You two are obviously at the racetracks together, but how limited is your time together because of your hectic schedules?
Burton: As we both have increasingly become busier, we have lacked the time to spend with each other that we should. That goes for all my friends and family, not just Ward. It's hard competing against your brother, and that's what I do for a living. There's no way around the fact that we are two competitive people who love to see each other do well, but it's Ward's first intention to win himself. That's my first intention, too, as it should be. So, I think we balance that pretty well even though it is difficult. It's very difficult.

Bio
Name: Jeff Burton
Age: 34
Hometown: South Boston, VA
Resides: Cornelius, NC
Marital Status: Married, Kim; two children, Kimberle and Harrison
Racing Involvement: Driver of the No. 99 Citgo Ford of Roush Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series; made his Winston Cup debut in 1993, qualifying sixth and finishing 37th at New Hampshire; won his first Winston Cup race in 1997; finished a career best third in points in 2000.