• Award Winning Crew … The No. 31 Team Cingular pit crew will be awarded Mechanix Wear’s third quarter ‘Most Valuable Pit Crew Award’ during the Bank of America 500 pre-race ceremonies. The award was voted on by the NASCAR Cup Series crew chiefs. An outstanding pit crew is selected each quarter of the season and one of the quarterly winners will be chosen as the Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew at season end and awarded $75,000.
• Double Duty … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet at LMS, Burton, a 22-time race winner in the NASCAR Busch Series, will pilot the No. 21 Coast Guard Chevrolet in the Dollar General 300 Friday, Oct. 13. The race will air live on TNT beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
• Back to School … On behalf of RCR’s Busch Series sponsorship from the United States Coast Guard, Jeff Burton visited Butler High School in Matthews, N.C., on Tuesday, October 10 to help promote Coast Guard recruiting. He met with students to give them pointers on how to become successful in life and explained the importance of the military is to our freedom.
• Raising Awareness for a Nobel Cause … Each of the three RCR Cup Series entries will carry a Down Syndrome Awareness Month decal this weekend to promote acceptance and inclusion of individuals born with this genetic condition. One in every 733 babies born in the U.S. has Down syndrome. The life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically in recent decades - from 25 in 1983 to 56 today. In that same span of time, advancements in education, research and advocacy have had a tremendous impact on the opportunities individuals with Down syndrome have to live healthy and fulfilling lives. The Down syndrome community has been celebrating Down Syndrome Awareness Month each October since 1981.
• Up to Speed … The Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, October 14 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on NBC and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 31st of 36 NASCAR Cup Series events will take the green flag at 7 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12 and will be telecast live on SPEED.
JEFF BURTON QUOTES:
Team Cingular finished sixth at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the spring. Are you confident in being able to back it up this weekend?
“The interesting thing for this race is Goodyear is bringing a different left-side tire than the one we used in the Coca-Cola 600. We’re going to have to adjust to that change. The new asphalt has now sat for five months so it won’t be the same as it was in the spring. We were also able to go to the track and test in the spring. This time we are going to Lowe’s Motor Speedway with a new tire and a track that has had time to sit so we have a lot of unknowns going into Charlotte.”
You’ve had some really great runs on the mile and a half tracks this season, just how strong is RCR’s intermediate program now?
“We feel really good but we didn’t run as well as we would have liked at California or Michigan, so we are a little bit on pins and needles about it. At the same time I believe we learned a lot at those races and can apply it this weekend in Charlotte.”
