NASCAR BGN: Rain changes Jeff Burton's plan for CarQuest 300
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 26, 2001
JEFF BURTON-9-Gain Ford Taurus - HOW DOES THE RAIN CHANGE YOUR GAME PLAN?
"We had a shot at the pole. Who knows what would have happened, but we had a legitimate shot at the pole. Most likely we're starting way worse than we would have started, so we have our work cut out for us to get to the front tomorrow. If we get practice in it's a disadvantage because we'll start worse than we thought we would. If we don't get practice, then the majority of the people won't hit the setup. We made one race run today and Biffle made a bunch of race runs. The people that made race runs should have an advantage if we don't get to practice today."
CAN YOU MAKE YOUR WAY THROUGH THE FIELD HERE IN 300 MILES? "I think so. I think it puts some more pressure on our over-the-wall guys to help us make up time in the pits, but I don't see passing here as a problem."
YOU BROUGHT AN OLDER WINSTON CUP CAR HERE THIS WEEKEND TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CHANGED THIS YEAR. DID YOU BRING AN OLD BUSCH CAR HOPING TO FIND THE SAME RESULTS? "We built this car last year and it won some races last year. We haven't built any brand-new Busch cars this year. All of our cars are last year's stuff. We'll run our first new car at Chicago, if all goes according to plans."
WILL THERE BE ANY INFORMATION TRANSFER BETWEEN THE BUSCH AND CUP CARS THIS WEEKEND? "There may be something. The cars are quite a bit different. We're looking for a feel more than anything. Our cars haven't felt good this year. The biggest thing that we can get out of it is me getting the feel that I need so that when I start the Winston Cup event, I have more confidence. That's what we'd like to take out of it."
CAN YOU LEARN MORE WITH THE NEW ENGINE PACKAGE IN THE BUSCH SERIES? "I haven't run enough in the Busch Series this year to make a comment on that. I didn't take much from Texas from the Busch car to the Cup garage. I haven't run enough to comment on that."
YOU'RE RUNNING A LOT OF YOUR BUSCH RACES TOWARDS THE END OF THE SEASON, WHEREAS LAST YEAR YOU RAN MORE THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR. "I wish we could have started the year running more races. I think it could have helped us learn more about the new tire quicker, but it didn't work out that way. Certainly, I wish I could have run some more early in the year."
ASSESS THE LEVEL OF COMPETITION IN THE BUSCH SERIES. "It's interesting to watch the Busch Series. It goes up and down in terms of the number of car entries. There are always seven or eight Busch teams that dominate the series, and I think that's the same as it is today. The number of cars changes. It's hard to win these races. It's not as hard as a Cup race to win, and it's certainly easier to run 10th here than it is in a Cup race, but it's hard to win these things. Not in the same level as a Cup race is, but it's still hard."
GREG BIFFLE SAID THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO TURN A QUALIFYING LAP IN PRACTICE AND TURNED TO YOU FOR ADVICE. THAT'S A DIFFERENT ROLE FOR YOU. IS IT A ROLE YOU EMBRACE? "In the beginning of the year, I did embrace it and I thought that I'd get in there and help, but they've done their own deal. They've taken the deal and run with it and have done a great job with very little help from me. I got in there early in the year and tried to help them, but they don't need my help. They've done a great job. If I can help them with some experience things, I will, but they've done a great job and they really don't need much help from me. I can help them because I have experience and I can lay that over to their program, but they don't need my help."
WHAT ABOUT ON A DAY LIKE THIS WHERE BIFFLE HAS NEVER MADE A QUALIFYING LAP AND HAD PROBLEMS MAKING ONE TODAY? "That's where my experience can help. HeHe came to me and asked, 'How should I drive and what should I put in the car?' I was able to give him some insight into that he wouldn't have otherwise gotten, and that certainly helped him on this day. Those are the situations that we can help him, but the rest of the things they've done themselves."
Text provided by Greg Shea
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