FONTANA, Calif. — Apparently it’s hard to roast Jeff Burton.
What was billed as a roast in honor of Burton’s 500th NASCAR Sprint Cup start turned into mostly a litany of respect for the senior driver at Richard Childress Racing.
“Like Dale Jarrett said, it’s hard to have a roast on Jeff because he is such an even-keeled type of person across the board, in competition and in everyday life,” teammate Kevin Harvick said Saturday at Auto Club Speedway. “He has brought a lot to our race team.”
Harvick said he and Matt Kenseth and some others did get Burton angry one day a while back by stealing his driving shoes and pretending to sell them on eBay.
“I think today he still has the same shoes that he had from the first of this year,” Harvick said. “He has this fetish about his shoes it seems like. … He was pretty mad that someone had stolen his shoes, out of his locker and he was head huntin’ for the person that stole his shoes and wanted them pretty much fired, I think is a polite way to put it.
“We took (the shoes) over to Kenseth’s motorhome. Matt put them on and we took pictures of them and then put this thing up on eBay. We had control of it the whole time. Little did he know that we were the ones that stole his shoes.”
Clint Bowyer, the other RCR driver, said, “I just think that is probably the coolest story about Jeff Burton is he didn’t give up, he is back on top and he does deserve a championship. He has been there and done that.
“In our stable, I think he is probably the strongest force we have right now. He has definitely pushed me to be better. I think Kevin can say the same thing. Every day you try to make yourself to keep up with both of your teammates. But when you have one that is as old as he is and he is whoopin’ up on you out on the racetrack, something is wrong. Just a lot of fun.”
Childress thanked Burton for what he has contributed to the team since moving to RCR from what was then Roush Racing in 2005.
“Kevin came along at the most crucial time, in 2001 (after Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona), and really helped keep us going,” Childress said. “When we hired Jeff, he was the hardest driver in practice or anywhere on the race track. He is driving that car as hard as he can, you know you are getting everything out of it in practice, testing or wherever.
“That is the kind of driver he is and that is the kind of driver I like. Couple of people said when I was thinking about hiring him, why would I want to hire him? I watch all these different guys drive these race cars and he drives every lap whether he is running 15th or 20th or wherever, you can believe he is getting everything out of the car it will do.”
BLACK HAT-WHITE HAT: The Kyle Busch-Carl Edwards rivalry can be viewed a bit like a morality play.
At least that’s the way NASCAR Sprint Cup star Jimmie Johnson looks at it a week after Busch and Edwards got into a postrace bumping match at Bristol that wound up putting both drivers on probation for six races.
“Carl’s like the good guy, Kyle would be the bad guy,” Johnson said. “Two totally different personalities, but I think the fans respect what they are on track and what they’re doing.
“I think that both are respected as hard-nose drivers,” he added. “I think Kyle is winning more fans over here lately by his success and being able to win in any type of car. He’s gone at it the hard way and people don’t love him when they first see him on TV. But, what he’s done on track, I think he’s converted more hard-core racing fans to respect and appreciate what he’s doing on track.
“I think Carl has that same thing going for him, running the Nationwide Series full-time like he does, and the success he has there. (They’re) certainly different guys.”
So, how does Edwards feel about being the guy who wears to the white hat, while Busch is the black-hatted villain in the eyes of many?
“There are no hats,” he said. “We’re all really doing the same thing. We’re all racing as hard as we can every race. There have been races where I was so mad and so angry afterwards, and there are races where you’re happy. It just kind of depends on how everything falls as to what hat you’re wearing that day.”
Meanwhile, Johnson said he would like to be part of the discussion when fans are talking about the drivers at the top of the standings.
“I hope to be in there and have (people) talking about three guys here pretty soon and be the PC (politically correct) guy, which I guess I’ve been labeled for whatever damn reason. … I can get in there and spin people out too.”
SPARK PLUGS: Drivers who have competed in all 16 Sprint Cup races at the track formerly known as California Speedway are Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek and Kyle Petty. … Twelve different drivers have won Cup races here, with Gordon (three), Jimmie Johnson (two) and Matt Kenseth (two) the only multiple winners. … Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing have each won six Cup races at Auto Club Speedway. … Kenseth won the 2006 race from the 31st starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.
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