Q&A With Jeff Burton

SCR: You have the unique perspective of having seen both Roush Racing and RCR from the inside. From the outside, they appear to be total opposites in how they approach things. Is that a fair assessment?

BURTON: In some ways it's fair. And in some ways they're very similar. The management style is completely different at RCR. It's a much more worker-friendly environment. It's a warmer place. It's not as industrialized. The desire to compete and win is real high at both places. The willingness to throw funds and effort into doing the things it takes to win are equal at both places. The thing that's firmly the same at both is the car owners' desire to compete at a high level. But the management style is drastically different.

SCR: It really relates to the different personalities of the owners, doesn't it?

BURTON: I think the thing that probably most people would laugh about is that RCR, from a technical standpoint, is very advanced. We're not as advanced as we could be, so we have a lot of room to grow there. But I think a lot of people think, from the outside looking in, that RCR is back like it was 15 or 20 years ago, when, in fact, there's been a huge effort to be in the next decade in technology. That's something that was surprising to me.

SCR: Could you elaborate on that, the advances in technology?

BURTON: From an engineering standpoint and from a technological standpoint, this sport is moving quick. We want to try to be on the good side of it; we want to be responding to it rather than reacting to it. When you're reacting to it you're making quick judgements, you're trying to make something happen right now, [and] you're trying to get caught up. We want to be responding to it so we'll be ahead of the curve and not playing catch-up.

SCR: What do you like best about this sport?

BURTON: What I like about it the best is the competition. I love to compete. The thing I enjoy is when we get up in the morning and walk in the garage, I know there are 42 teams that are doing their best to win the race, which means doing their best to beat us. And this team is doing its best to beat them. It's very in the open, it's very in-your-face competition, and I like that. I really enjoy that, and I enjoy the people. As much as we compete against each other and as much as we get frustrated with each other, I enjoy walking into the garage and seeing Jack Ingram and stopping and talking to him, seeing a young driver and stopping and talking to him, seeing a crew member that works on another team and stopping and talking to him. I just enjoy that part. I think for the most part there are a lot of good people in this sport. We all share a common interest, and I really enjoy being a part of that fraternity.

SCR: Sounds like the things that drew you to the sport as a kid are still true.

BURTON: The reason I'm in this sport is because as a kid I wanted to be in this sport. I'm one of those people at 5 years old I knew what I wanted to do. If you asked me where I wanted to be today, it would be right here. I mean, there are days when I would like to be somewhere on a beach with my family. Everybody has those days. But for the most part, this is where I want to be. I have lost no passion for it. If anything, I've gained it after having some years of not being as successful. We had a six-year run there when we were highly successful. Even in our years when we were defined as not being successful, we finished 10th in points one year, and we finished 12th in points two years in a row. And those years were catastrophic. We had [two years] when we were 18th, but [one of those] was a year in which I drove for two different teams. So my expectation level is really high. After having not been able to meet some of my expectations, I now appreciate even more the opportunity to be in this sport. It's what my professional life is all about.