News Article

Sometimes in racing, nice guys do finish first

December 19, 2006
Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM

Photo by Tom Whitmore

Jeff Burton has been around the Cup party for 12 years, or roughly the time spanning Dale Earnhardt's last championship.

During this period, Burton has won 18 times, a couple of which occurred in the driving rain. His ability to be out front when the rains came earned him the temporary nickname "Rainman."

That nickname has faded over time, but had NBC's cameras followed him to the airport on Sept. 24, 2006, it might have made a comeback.

It was dusk at Dover, a few hours after Burton had beaten Matt Kenseth in one of the best head-to-head battles seen in the Nextel Cup Series in years.

"I know that when I am racing, you drive people the way they drive you," Burton said. "With Matt, I know I am going to be driven clean, but I also know that with that kind of deal, he is going to drive really hard, which is what he should do.

"I expected a race."

He might have expected a hard battle, but he didn't anticipate getting soaked while trying to load the heavy Dover trophy on his plane.

We all like to think drivers don't do things for themselves anymore, and it is true that most of them have an army of people to assist in their every need. That is why it would have been hilarious to see Jeff Burton lugging his hardware in the pouring rain to his ride home. You mean they don't ship those things to your house?

Maybe hilarious isn't the right word. It merely would have been nice to see Burton fighting to get his trophy onto the plane like a normal man would. When you break things down to the basics, the sport is about the little victories, not 10-race playoffs or million associate sponsorships.

One of those little victories undoubtedly was the scene in Victory Lane, a place his family hadn't visited on the Cup level in five years.

"When things go well, I truly get the vibe from them that they are happy for me," Burton said. "I have great kids and I am very fortunate to have the attitudes that they have, but it is not one thing they said or one thing they did other than their reaction or response to us winning. It was very positive.

Everyone has started publishing their requisite "stories of the year," but it is hard to overstate the story of Burton's comeback.

Think about it. Burton went winless from age 34 to age 39. Those are prime years for a stock car driver, when youth and experience are briefly merged.

I can't imagine what Burton was thinking when he bore down on Kenseth's mustard-colored Ford. At the very least, he was thinking, "Here is a guy who is just as good as I am, but at the same time, I can trust this man. I can race with him."

And did. It was the battle of the year, and it only served to red-flag the serious competition issues we have in NASCAR today.

"Two people that I have a tremendous amount of respect for, Bill France Jr. and Rick Mears, both told me that that race was one of the best races that either one of them had ever seen," Burton said. "They said they ought to play that race at every rookie meeting and say this is how you can race competitively and this is how you can do it clean.

"When two people like that say that to you, that is a hell of a neat thing."
 
After the race, Burton turned on his cell phone. The mailbox was full, so Burton listened to the messages on the way to the airport, hauled the trophy onto the plane, and took off. By the time he got back to North Carolina, the mailbox was full again.

Dale Jarrett left a congratulatory message so lengthy that Burton's answering machine filled up, prompting Jarrett to call back and leave a second one. Rick Hendrick sent a gift basket.

I thought the most telling story of Burton's victory drought was located in the Victory Lane photos. There was Burton, his lovely wife Kim, daughter Paige and young son Harrison, who was a baby in 2001.

"My son had never really been there where he could remember it," Burton said. "It was cool. He is such a huge race fan, he just loves racing."

I can refresh it for him.

That late October race at Phoenix was probably the hottest race I have ever been to. Even though it was late fall, the area was blitzed with record heat, with temperatures nearing 100.

One of my colleagues had gotten sick in my rental car (yeah, that), so we left the windows down to air the vehicle out. While at the track, my parking pass was stolen. You had to drive the car one-handed - one to steer the car, one to hold your nose.

Goodyear arrived with a tire that couldn't handle the aggressive setups at PIR, and scores of drivers blew tires. You had Casey Atwood - Casey freakin' Atwood - on the way to victory. His tire blew. Had he won that race, his career would have turned out very differently. Funny thing is, he nearly won two weeks later at Homestead, too.

But Atwood didn't win. Jeff Burton did when he passed Mike Wallace. Mike Wallace! Only seven of the top 15 drivers that day ran the full Cup schedule last year.

I'll go even further. An even better illustration of how long Burton's losing streak was: Only 20 of the 43 finishers at PIR in 2001 will run the full schedule next year. Everyone talks about how short-lived NFL careers are, but Nextel Cup careers can be just as brief.

Harrison Burton is now 6 - and drives his own quarter-midget. Burton spends a lot of his free time working on his son's car, laying the initial bricks in what could become another foundation within the sport.

You never know. Perhaps we'll see Ross Kenseth engaged in a side-by-side duel with Harrison Burton in 2025, with an Atwood finishing third.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

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