Burton 21st in Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Grip, penalty hamper potential strong run

Hampton, GA (March 17, 2007) … Ward Burton piloted the #27 Scott® Extra Soft Ford Fusion to a 21st-place finish in the Nicorette 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. However, if not for a “grip issue” and a “speeding penalty”, the afternoon could have had a much better result.

Burton was making his first Busch Series start on the “new” Atlanta Motor Speedway. He had not competed at AMS in Busch Series competition since 1996, and on the 1.54-mile track since it was reconfigured ten years ago. Burton, who won the Busch race at AMS in 1993, had high hopes entering Atlanta after posting his best finish of the 2007 season (15th) last week at Las Vegas.

The Nicorette 300 was another “impound” race for the Busch Series, with qualifying and the 195-lap race on the same day. Burton posted a fast lap of 30.080 seconds / 184.309 mph to earn the 32nd starting position in the 43-car field. However, damage to the front valance panel during qualifying required minor repairs and forced the Scott® Extra Soft Ford to the rear of the field for the initial start of the event.

Burton worked his way cautiously through traffic during the early stages and was running 40th when the yellow flag waved on lap 14. After pitting for major chassis adjustments, Burton restarted 37th. The Virginia competitor gained ten positions during the next 13 laps before a “competition caution” waved on lap 35.

After a pit stop for track bar, wedge, and air pressure adjustments, along with tires and fuel, Burton restarted 31st on lap 40. Fifteen laps later, Burton reported that he had “no downforce at all” and needed additional adjustments.

Burton’s next pit stop came under caution on lap 69 as Crew Chief Stewart Cooper ordered more adjustments to the Scott® Extra Soft Ford Fusion. After the restart on lap 72, Burton reported that the car was “the best it’s been, but I can still use more”. After another caution, Burton would restart 17th on lap 90.

During the next 32 laps, Burton would race toward the top ten during the sequence of green-flag pit stops. Then, running 9th on lap 125, Burton was penalized by NASCAR for “too fast entering pit road” as he was making his scheduled pit stop. The “drive through” penalty dropped the Virginia driver to 26th in the running order.

Working his way through traffic, Burton began to gain position after position during the next green-flag stage of the race. After an outstanding pit stop by the Scott® Extra Soft crew on lap 169, Burton restarted 18th on lap 173. However, during the final stages of the event, the combination of lack of grip and old tires dropped the #27 Ford to 21st at the checkered flag.

“Today was a case of having no grip,” Burton commented after the race. “The Scott® Extra Soft Team kept making adjustments, but we just couldn’t get the car into the track. There were times when I had no grip in the rear and could barely hold on to it. We’ve got to keep working to get our 1.5-mile track program better, but Stewart (Crew Chief Cooper) and the guys will continue to work hard and figure it out. We’ve had fast cars, and we’ve got good things ahead for this team.”

The next race for the #27 Scott® Extra Soft Ford Fusion will be the Sharpie Mini 300 on Saturday, March 24th at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Qualifying is set for 11:10 AM ET on Saturday, with the 300-lap, 159.9-mile race set for 3:00 PM ET start. ABC will provide live television coverage of the Sharpie Mini 300 beginning at 2:30 PM ET. PRN will provide radio coverage of the sixth race on the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series schedule.

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