| Ward Burton | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Burton in 2019 | |||||||
| Born | John Edward Burton III (1961-10-25)October 25, 1961 (age 64) South Boston, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||
| Achievements | 2002Daytona 500 Winner 2001Southern 500 Winner LedBusch Series in poles in1993 | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 375 races run over 13 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 9th (1999) | ||||||
| First race | 1994Pontiac Excitement 400 (Richmond) | ||||||
| Last race | 2007Subway 500 (Martinsville) | ||||||
| First win | 1995AC Delco 400 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| Last win | 2002New England 300 (Loudon) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career | |||||||
| 161 races run over 10 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 6th (1993) | ||||||
| First race | 1990Pontiac 200 (Richmond) | ||||||
| Last race | 2007Carfax 250 (Michigan) | ||||||
| First win | 1992Goodwrench 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| Last win | 1993Slick 50 300 (Atlanta) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
| 1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 59th (2012) | ||||||
| First race | 2012NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics up to date as of April 17, 2013. | |||||||
John Edward Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professionalstock car racing driver. He has five career wins in theNASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001Southern 500. A member of the Burton racing family, he is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver andNASCAR on NBC broadcasterJeff Burton, the father of currentNASCAR Xfinity Series driverJeb Burton, and the uncle of currentNASCAR Xfinity Series driverHarrison Burton. He currently operates the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, a conservation and sportsmans' organization.
Burton began his NASCARBusch Series career in the1990 season and competed full-time for four seasons. In his first season, he had 23 starts with three top-ten finishes, ending the season in 21st place. His results improved steadily over the next three years. For his second season, he had 29 starts with two top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes, completing the season in eighteenth place.
Burton's third season in 1992 brought his first win on February 29 atRockingham in the number 27Gwaltney car owned by Alan Dillard. He completed the season in eighth place overall with one win, three top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes. His final full-time season in 1993 brought three more wins, nine top-fives, and ten top-tens, ending up in sixth place in the final points standings. In 1995, Burton started driving for Buz McCall in the No. 95Caterpillar, Inc.-sponsored Chevrolet after John Tanner was released. He drove for Bill Davis Racing in 1996 for eight starts in the No. 22MBNA-sponsored Pontiac. Burton did not start another Busch Series race until 1999 when he ran five more races forBill Davis with a sponsorship fromSiemens. He accumulated three top-five and five top-ten finishes including a second-place finish atDover International Speedway. He also ran one race forInnovative Motorsports and their No. 47Chevrolet.
In 2000, Burton ran five more races for Davis with a sponsorship fromPolaris Industries and one race with Innovative Motorsports. He then ran two races in 2001 forTommy Baldwin Jr.'s new team with aPillsbury sponsorship.
On January 2, 2007,Brewco Motorsports Inc. announced Burton would drive the No. 27Kleenex-sponsoredFord Fusion in the Busch Series in 2007. Burton was to drive twenty races for Brewco Motorsports and Kleenex, beginning with the Orbitz 300 atDaytona International Speedway. He was released late in the season.
Burton moved up to the Winston Cup Series in 1994. He ran 26 of 31 races in the No. 31Hardee's-sponsoredChevy forA.G. Dillard Motorsports, winning his first career pole atCharlotte Motor Speedway and finishing 35th in standings. He returned to the No. 31 ride in 1995 but he was released on August 20, one day after finishing sixth at Michigan. The next weekend at Bristol, he moved to the No. 22Bill Davis RacingMBNA-sponsoredPontiac after 21 races, and he won the AC-Delco 400 at Rockingham toward the end of that season.Caterpillar became the new primary sponsor for the car in 1999, when he picked up a career high ninth place points finish, with six top-five finishes and sixteen top-ten finishes. He scored three second place finishes that season, at Las Vegas, Darlington and Rockingham, and on all three occasions brother Jeff won the race.
In the2000 season, he won theMall.com 400 atDarlington Raceway and had seventeen top-ten finishes to finish tenth in the final points standings. Bill Davis Racing switched toDodge in thenext season, when he won theMountain Dew Southern 500 atDarlington Raceway and had ten top-ten finishes to finish fourteenth in the final points standings. Burton had also led the most laps inthat year's Daytona 500 but retired after 173 laps after having been involved in the Big One.
In the2002 Daytona 500, Burton drove among the lead cars and was among the lead pack late in the race. However, he took the lead becauseSterling Marlin, who was in front of him at the time, climbed out of his car and tried to fix a damaged right-front fender during a red flag, drawing a penalty as repairs are prohibited during red flag conditions except for non-points paying races. As Marlin was sent to the back of the field at the restart, Burton inherited the lead and maintained it, holding offElliott Sadler andGeoffrey Bodine for the win.[1]
He also won theNew England 300 atNew Hampshire but due to numerous mechanical failures, he fell to 25th in the point standings, but after his win in Loudon, however, 2002 would mark the first and only time in his career that he would win multiple races in a single season. At Bristol, he was involved in a wreck whereDale Earnhardt Jr. bumped into him, and sent him spinning into the wall. Burton responded by throwing his heel pads at Earnhardt's car.2003 was a season of poorer finishes for Burton. He only had four top-tens, and he left Bill Davis Racing with four races left in the season to begin driving the No. 0NetZero-sponsored Pontiac forHaas CNC Racing. He finished the season 21st in the final points standings.
In the2004 season, Burton raced Haas CNC Racing's No. 0NetZero HiSpeed-sponsored car to three top-ten finishes but was released from the team with two races left in the season. He spent the next two seasons as a free agent. He returned to the Sprint Cup series late in the2006 season, driving the No. 4Lucas Oil-sponsored Chevrolet forMorgan-McClure Motorsports. His first race with the team was theSubway 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 22, 2006. He started 35th and finished 26th as the last car on the lead lap. On November 5, 2006 atTexas Motor Speedway in his next driving opportunity, he started 37th and finished 25th. On December 12, Burton signed with Morgan-McClure Motorsports to drive the No. 4 car full-time in 2007. That year, his performance was lackluster, posting a best finish of fourteenth. On November 12, he was released from Morgan-McClure Motorsports so that the team could "evaluate performance." Morgan-McClure closed up shop shortly afterward.
Following his release, Burton did not officially retire; however, it was not until 2012 that he returned to NASCAR, signing withHillman Racing to run in the season-openingCamping World Truck Series race atDaytona International Speedway, as well as selected races later in the year as a teammate to his sonJeb.[2]
Burton joinedTurner Scott Motorsports as a driver coach for the team starting in 2013, where he assisted with driver development for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series teams. However, just prior to the start of the 2014 season, the primary sponsor of the team defaulted on a payment, and the team was shut down.[3]
On November 1, 2005, then Virginia GovernorMark Warner appointed Burton to theVirginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries.[4] As a resident ofHalifax County, Virginia, Burton assumed the seat on the board for Virginia's 5th Congressional District that was formerly held by C. Wilson McNeely, IV, who resigned after six years of service.
Burton, an avid sportsman and conservationist, is the founder and president of the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, and he has been a spokesperson for Virginia's 34 state parks since 2003.
Burton was born inDanville, Virginia but considersSouth Boston, Virginia his hometown. In January 1990, Burton married a young widow named Tabitha Conner (née Throckmorton). Burton and Tabitha, have three children: Sarah (Tabitha's daughter whom Burton adopted),Jeb, and Ashton. His nephew is Alexander Burton. He owns several thousand acres of hunting land in rural Virginia close to his hometown of South Boston, Virginia. He also has a home inNags Head, North Carolina.
Burton's family ancestry can be traced back through Colonial Virginia where the landing of his earliest ancestor Richard Burton came over to theJamestown Colony. He currently serves as a member of theBoard of Directors for thePatrick Henry Memorial Foundation inBrookneal, Virginia.[5]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | A.G. Dillard Motorsports | Chevrolet | DNQ | |
| 1995 | 21 | 15 | ||
| 1996 | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 13 | 26 |
| 1997 | 17 | 8 | ||
| 1998 | 9 | 25 | ||
| 1999 | 18 | 24 | ||
| 2000 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2001 | Dodge | 10 | 35 | |
| 2002 | 19 | 1 | ||
| 2003 | 17 | 38 | ||
| 2004 | Haas CNC Racing | Chevrolet | 19 | 17 |
| 2007 | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | DNQ | |
| NASCARCamping World Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | NCWTC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Hillman Racing | 27 | Chevy | DAY 8 | MAR | CAR | KAN | CLT | DOV | TEX | KEN | IOW | CHI | POC | MCH | BRI | ATL | IOW | KEN | LVS | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM | 59th | 36 | [30] | ||||||||||||||||
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Daytona 500 Winner 2002 | Succeeded by Michael Waltrip |
| Preceded by | Southern 500 Winner 2001 | Succeeded by |