Jeff Burton Race Quotations

When I came into the sport, rookies didn't drive good race cars. You drove junk. Rookies don't step in driving junk anymore. They step in driving top cars because there is no junk. They step in driving really, really good stuff.

For us, every race is important when you've been knocked back on your heels and you're trying to get back in the fight. Right now, we don't have to dig ourselves out of a hole. If we keep running the way we're running, we'll get our wins and we'll do what we need to do in points. Our priorities have to be going fast. That's what we couldn't do last year. That's what I couldn't do the year before, or the year before that. That's what I have been able to do this year.

He went a groove up the race track to knock us out. Unbelievable.

Going out early is never a good thing. We made our car as fast as we could in practice so that is a good thing. It didn't help us by going out third, but there is nothing we can do about that. You just start where you start, and get the most out of it. It is a tough race track, demanding race track.

He didn't stomp his feet, cry and pout. He didn't lose it. He knew when the race was over it was time to be somebody different.

Right now the 2 car looks like the very best car. I like the way my car drives and I think we can do what we need to do with it. We've got a long, long race here and a lot of things can happen.

Mark Martin taught me that you're never guaranteed to be in Victory Lane, and to appreciate it every time and I remembered that. I'm proud of myself for continuing to fight and give 100 percent throughout all of it. I never once didn't come to the race track and try, and I believe that'll pay off for me.

I wasn't going to hit Kevin. I race clean every chance I get and the last person I'm going to hit is my teammate. Kevin has been real good to me as far as being a teammate and he would do the same for me.

Racing is safer today than it was five years ago, but we didn't know it. People ask me, 'Do you feel safer today in a race car than you did five years ago?' No, I don't. I felt safe five years ago. I thought we were doing all we could do. I didn't know we could do more.

This is a difficult race track, for sure, but the rookies that we have are really good and they didn't just start racing yesterday.

There is time for both. When I am driving a race car I am driving a race car. But I take a lot of pride in the sponsors I work with.

It's like impossible to pass here. It's because of the shape of the race track, but the competition is so fierce, so many good teams and good drivers. You just don't turn left and pass people.

It's very much a mental race but very physical at the same time.

Before that, it was kind of a macho thing. It was like, 'Just get in the race car and drive.' I've never concerned myself with being very macho. I try to be smart, be educated and do the right thing. That has become more popular today than it used to be. People are willing to talk about (safety) now.

I think we're our biggest competition. I think the racetrack's the biggest competition. If we go and race the racetrack and try to go around the racetrack faster than our competition, then that's the goal. I look at it as a competition between us and the racetrack because it's all about lap time.

A great race car driver in a bad car doesn't make great results. A great car and a bad race car driver doesn't make great results. You have to have both. It's the combination of driver and car.