Racing's in the blood for Burton family

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Jeff Burton's pride, his values, his drive to win a Nextel Cup championship — and perhaps one day a Senate seat — are rooted deeply in the family's home in South Boston and with his father, John.

Nearing his 70th birthday, John, who once raced hydroplane boats and until last year raced E-production class sports cars, still plays competitive tennis several times a week and consistently ranks near the top of the 65-and-older bracket in the USTA's Mid-Atlantic Region.

"I wouldn't want to play against him," says Jeff, who turns 40 next month and is positioning himself for a second consecutive run for NASCAR's biggest championship.

In the offices of the family construction business now run by middle son Brian, John displays trophies, photos and die cast replicas of cars that chronicle the racing successes of his other sons, Jeff and Ward. But two photos he treasures most have nothing to do with racing on the NASCAR level.

One is a small black-and-white of Jeff, Ward and Brian hoisting state championship go-kart trophies they captured on the same day at Halifax County Speedway. The other is a large, color portrait of his three sons duck hunting near their home.

"Dad is a fierce competitor," says Ward, whose NASCAR career has taken a backseat to his conservation efforts in recent years. "It's not just about tennis. Dad took me duck hunting down the river when I was 13, and two ducks came up from the bank. Dad shot three shots and missed. I shot two shots and had two ducks. He didn't speak to me for about 30 minutes. That competitiveness certainly rubbed off on myself, Brian and Jeff."

CUP ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Track Jeff Burton's career in NASCAR

The J.E. Burton Construction Co., founded by grandpa John Burton Sr., prides itself on delivering on time and under budget.

Jeff acknowledges enjoying the architectural aspects of construction and even designed elements of his palatial home in Huntersville, N.C. (a northern suburb of Charlotte) where he lives with his wife, Kim, their two children and nine horses. "But I don't enjoy the construction part of construction," he says. "Even if I couldn't be racing, I wouldn't be working in the construction company. That business never interested me."

J.E. Burton generally builds commercial properties — offices, hospitals, schools. It's also been commissioned to build the home of the Halifax County/South Boston Sports Hall of Fame. That building will be located in Edmunds Park, just across Route 360 from the white walls and high banking of South Boston Speedway, where the likes of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty once competed and the Burton boys cut their racing teeth.

Eventually, the Hall will house cars of Jeff and Ward alongside tributes to Olympic high jumper Tisha Waller and former NFL players Willie Lanier and Donald Testerman. One must be 50 years old or retired at least five years from one's sport to be considered for induction. So far, the only Burton in the Hall is John, who lettered in football, basketball and track at Halifax County High School.

Groomed to race

Jeff and Ward, 45, went racing. Brian, 42, went into construction.

"My goal and ambition was always to come here and be the third generation to run the construction business," Brian says. "I'd love to race, but I wouldn't like to go through what they have to go through on a daily basis. If Jeff or Ward get to spend three nights at their residence in a week, they're lucky. I live two blocks away."

Like his brothers, Brian was in a go-kart by first grade. He stopped counting at 119 victories and five state titles.

"Brian was the best go-kart driver," John says. "He won more races, more championships. He was the best when it came to golf, basketball, baseball — a natural athlete."

And he played a role in the family's early on-track success.

"He's worked his buns off here to earn the money to afford us the funds that we needed to help support our racing efforts," John says. "Brian is not disappointed. He's not an in-the-limelight type of person. He loves what he's doing. Even as a kid, working on jobs in the summertime, he'd say, 'Dad, I want to run your company.' I know he thinks back and says, 'What could I have done if I had driven?' But he has so many other interests that racing wouldn't fit him."

Of the brothers, it was Jeff who was groomed to be the racer.

"Ward had so many other interests — hunting, trapping, fishing," John says. "Jeff was more single-minded. It was like, 'That's my deal. I have to be good at it.' "

John insisted that Jeff not only drive but help maintain his cars.

"When Jeff was real small, about 7, we went go-kart racing together, and that was probably the most fun I ever had in my life," John says. "He always wanted to work on the equipment, learn about the equipment, and I think that's what's made him successful. He understands a race car."

While Brian and Ward helped build buildings, Jeff built cars.

"Dad made it (possible) for Jeff to do nothing but race," recalls Ward, the 2002 Daytona 500 champ who made only three starts in 2006 but has returned to Nextel Cup action this season driving the No. 4 Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Racing. "He didn't work for the family construction company. Dad had me working on the job site when I was 13 years old. I took Jeff out to work one time, and he got the truck and left at lunchtime.

"Jeff was lucky to have the foundation that Dad set for him, and he's taken advantage of it."

When it came time for teenage Jeff to graduate to Late Model stocks, John hired Allen and Earl Rice and built a shop for Burton Autosports in Cluster Springs. Cathy Rice, Allen's wife and now general manager of South Boston Speedway, became somewhat of a surrogate mother. John was remarrying, and it was Cathy Rice who scored for the team, packed turkey sandwiches and made certain Jeff's girlfriend, Kim, didn't fall from the milk van that pulled the race trailer to tracks such as Orange County (N.C.) and Martinsville Speedway.

"Right behind the house we had the shop where they worked on that Late Model car every night," Rice says. "John wanted to see them do well, but they worked hard for everything they had. I remember hearing Jeff tell them one day that he just wanted to run the Daytona 500 — and win.

"The first year we went Busch racing, I think Jeff leaned on Dale Earnhardt. At a lot of tracks we'd park beside Dale. He told Jeff, 'Just follow me,' and Jeff would go out in practice and follow his line."

No doubt during drought

Before this year, 17 of Jeff Burton's 18 career Cup victories came with Roush Racing from 1997 to 2001.

Then came the dry spell with Roush, the mid-2004 shift to Richard Childress Racing and a 175-race winless streak that finally ended at Dover International Speedway in September when he stalked and passed Matt Kenseth.

"He struggled for a few years, but I knew the whole time that he could get it done in a race car," says Childress, whose entire organization began turning around thanks to an infusion of technology and personnel.

The win seemed more a relief to Kim, Burton's high school sweetheart who knew nothing about racing when they met but soon became an integral part of the team, timing and charting race progress.

"This is a fickle sport," she says. "When you don't win for a while, (people) doubt you can do it. I always knew he would win again because he's an awesome driver and an awesome person as far as making a race team work."

Like John Burton, Kim has a couple of favorite photos. One is of 6-year-old son Harrison posing in victory lane, peering from between the legs of the "monster" atop the Dover "Monster Mile" trophy. Another is of daughter Paige, now 11, avoiding Wayne Newton and leaning in for a kiss from dad after a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The trophy made for trouble when Kim decided to move it.

"It weighs about 50 or 60 pounds with the cement monster on it," she says. "Well, I was wearing my big, fluffy slippers, and when I went from the floor to the carpet I tripped and broke two ribs. The trophy was demolished. I had to call Jeff and tell him, 'You know the first trophy you won in five years? I broke it.' Of course, he was more worried about me."

The victory at Dover gave Jeff Burton the lead in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, a lead he maintained until an engine failure at Martinsville dropped him to fifth with four races left. He eventually finished seventh, his best showing since 2000, when he was third in points.

"It felt good to have a year where we were consistent," he says. "But I felt like we had a chance to win the championship. This year the maturity of our team has shown.

"When I'm talking about maturity, I'm talking about how we become better at the things we need to be better at, (not) things that we're doing well. I feel like we laid a down payment down last year. I think our struggles made us stronger and made us tougher."

'The consummate professional'

Win or lose, Jeff Burton is respected in the garage, as much for the way he races as for his performance.

"I always like racing him," says Kenseth, who was overtaken by Jeff Burton this year at Texas Motor Speedway much the way he was last year at Dover. "You know if you drive into the corner wheel-to-wheel with him, you're not going to have a problem unless something very strange happens."

Jeff Burton tries to rely on the Golden Rule.

"I try to race people the way they race me," he says. "Do unto others. But there are occasions, because this is a sport where you have to be self-serving, that you have to be selfish — and there are times you have to be just a touch of an ass."

Jeff Burton's crew chief, Scott Miller, sees a more patient talent.

"Jeff is the consummate professional behind the wheel," Miller says. "Tenacity is his strongest point. He stays after it, every single lap. You see that in the way he won at Texas, chipping away, chipping away."

Jeff Burton, never afraid to share his opinion, enjoys similar respect as a voice of the drivers. Veteran Mark Martin, a former teammate at Roush, says he is the driver best-suited to be a spokesman in the garage because he's a good listener as well as a good speaker.

"If I was going to elect someone to speak for us as a group, at this minute, Jeff Burton would be the one," Martin says.

Burton, who long has pondered a future in politics, might use that voice outside the garage, too.

"It's certainly something I'm interested in," he says. "My first thoughts are (a run for the) Senate, but I haven't dug into it enough for someone to tell me, 'That's stupid.' There is zero time frame other than it's no time in the near future."

Jeff Burton can't change the world but says the one thing he would change about NASCAR would be to give crewmembers more of a break during the season.

"If we had two (more) off weekends, the quality of life would be extraordinarily higher," he says. "It would mean so much more to our guys and their relationships with their families. It's not about the drivers. We've got motor homes and airplanes. If guys could enjoy doing this every bit as much as we do and spend a little more time with family — that would be pretty nice."

Take it from someone who knows the value of family.

See more at www.usatoday.com