On Sunday, Jeff Burton will start a premiere division NASCAR race for the 692nd time, but the Camping World RV Sales 301 may be the veteran’s last outing.
NASCAR New Hampshire 2014: Sunday may be Jeff Burton’s last race
Jeff Burton may be making the final start of his career Sunday at New Hampshire.
Jared Wickerham
Burton is driving select races for Michael Waltrip Racing this season, and Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is his last scheduled start of the year. And with Burton moving to the broadcast booth to be an analyst for NBC in 2015, there is no guarantee he will race again in the Sprint Cup Series.
If this is the end of a career that has spanned three decades and seen Burton win 21 Cup races, the 47-year-old can accept his fate.
“I don’t know,” Burton said Friday when asked if this was his last race. “I think it’s a good chance. I’m okay with that. I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing. It’s fun being here. I have a lot of friends here. I’ve been going to quite a few races this year.”
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That New Hampshire may mark the end of Burton’s career is appropriate. The one-mile track is where he made his Cup debut in 1993. Overall, Burton owns four wins at New Hampshire, with his last coming in 2000 in a race where he led all 300 laps.
“If this is my last race, it’s cool with me for it to be here,” he said. “This isn’t my home track, but this is certainly a track a lot of my career has been shaped at this race track.”
A substandard effort in qualifying has Burton starting 30th Sunday. Still, he’s confident the speed is there for him to get to the front. He finished third in this race a year ago.
“We were really disappointed,” Burton said. “All day we’ve been way off in qualifying trim. We had a great test here. We made one qualifying run here at the test and it wasn’t very good.
“(But) I’m pretty optimistic about the race. In qualifying trim we just weren’t in the ball game.”
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