Jeff Burton Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Sprint Cup Race Preview

Press Release

· This Week’s Caterpillar Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway … Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 271 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Built brand new for the 2009 season, this Caterpillar Impala SS was put through its first paces at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March where Burton drove it to a third-place finish. Since then, the South Boston, Va., native drove this No. 31 racer to a 14th-place effort at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, a 12th-place finish at Darlington Raceway in May and to a ninth-place result at Pocono Raceway in June.

· Pocono Details … In 31 starts at Pocono, Burton has posted six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. He has an 18.23 average starting position to go along with a respectable 16.29 average finishing position and led 15 different races for a total of 104 laps.

· The Pocono Loop Report … According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Burton is the sport’s fourth-best Closer. Over the past nine events at the tricky-triangular track, the 21-time Sprint Cup Series winner has improved his position 34 times over the last 10 percent laps of the race, an average of 3.8 positions gained in each race. The South Boston, Va., native is also the eighth-best Quality Passer. He has completed 347 passes under green-flag conditions while running in the top 15. Additionally, Burton is the series’ 10th-best driver in the Average Running Position category with 14.11. Based on his performance the past four years at the 2.5-mile race track, the 16-year veteran driver has an 89.9 Driver Rating, placing him 11th overall.

· Six to Go … The 21-time Sprint Cup Series winner currently sits 17th in the championship point standings with six races remaining in NASCAR’s “Race to the Chase.” The 12 Chase contenders are determined once the checkered flag waves at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, September 12. Despite sitting 228 markers behind the sought-after 12th-place spot, Burton is still mathematically eligible to be a member of this season’s Chase class. In 2005, Matt Kenseth overcame a 213-point deficit over the same six races and raced his way into the Chase contending class. He was 59 markers ahead of the cutoff at the conclusion of the 26th race, therefore making up a total of 272 points.

· RCR at Pocono … In 102 starts at Pocono, RCR team owner Richard Childress has two wins, both of them coming with Dale Earnhardt, who won the Summer 500 on July 19, 1987 and the Miller Genuine Draft 500 on July 18, 1993. Additionally, RCR has earned one pole, 12 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes at the uniquely-shaped three-turn speedway. Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, contributed two of those top 10s from 1976-1980.

· Last Time Around … A late-race decision to top off the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet’s fuel tank during the race’s final caution period paid off in the form of a top-10 finish for Burton in the June 7 Pocono 500. After racing inside the top 10 for the first half of the race, different pit strategies began to unfold. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, the call was made to top off the Caterpillar Chevy one lap from taking the final green flag for the lap-165 restart. After restarting 25th, Burton steadily climbed the leaderboard as many of the front-runners were forced to pit for fuel under green-flag conditions and, in the end, the CAT Racing team’s strategy paid off, affording their driver a ninth-place showing in his 525th career Sprint Cup Series start.

· Welcome Home … Two members from the CAT Racing crew hail from Pennsylvania. Jerry Wittig, shock specialist on the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevy, calls Redding his hometown while car chief Darin Nestlerode grew up in Jersey Shore. In addition to his mechanic duties on the RCR entry, Nestlerode also holds the sign board during pit stops on race day. He and his wife Paula reside in Kernersville, N.C. and are heavily involved in the Triad Bloodhounds, a non-profit organization that trains K-9’s in various areas: tracking lost persons, criminal tracking, cadaver, water recovery, explosive detection, article searches and weapon detection.

· Mark Your Calendars … In honor of its 40th anniversary, RCR will host a Fan Day at the Welcome, N.C. complex on Thurs., Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Activities include driver and pit crew autograph sessions, self-guided tours of RCR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide shops as well as ECR’s engine shop, radio remotes, musical entertainment, pit crew competition, viewing of the DALE movie, question-and-answer session with team owner Richard Childress and much more. General admission to RCR’s Fan Day is just $5, which will benefit the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

· Catch the Action … The Sunoco American Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway will be televised live, Sunday, August 2 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on ESPN and will broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 21st of 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races is scheduled for Friday, July 31 and will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:

What will it take to get your first victory at Pocono?

“Pocono is a place where I always feel like we run well but we certainly have never run well enough to win. There were a couple of times early in my career I thought we had a good chance and then I broke parts real late in the race. This is a challenging race track. Obviously, everybody is going to come here and say the same things. Our main struggle at Pocono is one of the three corners. We’ll find two corners where we are good and then we’ll have one corner where we are not so good. We haven’t found the balance that will allow us to lay down lap times without sacrificing too much in one particular corner. The fun thing about Pocono and the difficult thing is that every corner is different. You have to be good in every corner and you can’t sacrifice anything anywhere. Pocono is a very demanding race track physically and mentally. It’s one of our toughest tests we have all year.”

In an effort to make the Chase and considering where you are in points, how do you this weekend’s race?

“I approach every race the same, to be quite honest. If you can do something different for a particular race, then you’re not trying hard enough in the other races. Don’t get me wrong. The pressure and tension is starting to build since there are six races left for us to get into the top 12 in points. It’s definitely in the back of our minds but our approach is the same week in and week out and that’s to try and win the race. If we can’t win, then we try to finish second. If we can’t finish second, then shoot for third and so on.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release

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