Jeff Burton’s Bristol Diary: Thursday

As I sat in my motorhome last night watching television and enjoying a Coke Zero, I thought about how cool it is to win at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Winning at Bristol is big. It’s an action-packed race with so much going on. The way we won here in March of 2008 – making a pass with a couple laps to go – was really exciting.

We didn’t have the fastest car, but we ran well for most of the race. We pitted late and put on fresh tires. I knew that was going to help us, but Kevin (Harvick) was in front of me and he had new tires as well. He and Tony (Stewart) got together and that opened a door for me to move to second. Once I got to second, and sitting there with two laps to go, I knew anything can happen. 

While riding around under caution, I thought that if I could jump Denny (Hamlin) on the outside then I could have a shot. But, when we took the green flag, he broke coming off Turn 2 and, obviously, that
opened the door for us to get the win. My crew chief (Scott Miller) did a great job of calling the race and those calls put us in position to win.

Because Bristol is unique from any other race track on the circuit we go to, that makes the win special. It’s not about money or a cool trophy. It’s about being able to say, ‘Hey, I won at Bristol!’
Everybody knows what racing at Bristol is like, and to say that you won there is rewarding.

What also made the win extra special is that my teammates finished second (Harvick) and third (Clint Bowyer). In Richard Childress Racing’s 40-year existence, it was the first time that the company finished 1-2-3 in a race.

But, before we can even think about celebrating in Victory Lane, we have to get to work and fine tune our No. 31 Caterpillar Impala SS the best we can for Saturday night’s race. We have two 90-minute
practice sessions today before qualifying at 5:40 p.m.

Qualifying at Bristol is important because, like everywhere else, you want to qualify near the front. The closer to the front you are, the fewer cars you have to pass. And, as you know, passing can be difficult at a place where 43 cars take up half the race track.

Before I let you go, I just want to thank everyone who came out to Walmart last night. It’s always great to meet new and see old fans. And, thanks to Prilosec OTC for having me!

Well, I’m off to go make some laps. I’ll fill you in tomorrow on how our Caterpillar Chevy did during practice and, hopefully, we’ll be positioned where we want to be when the green flag waves on Saturday night.