Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in 1999 and 2001 and the 1999 Southern 500. He currently serves as a color commentator for NBC Sports, having joined them upon their return to their coverage of NASCAR. His son and nephew, Harrison and Jeb, respectively, both currently compete in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, while his brother Ward Burton has also raced in the Cup Series.
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Early career
Burton was exposed to racing at an early age. After their father introduced Burton and his brothers to go-kart racing, Burton later moved up to late model stock cars and late models, driving at South Boston Speedway.
NASCAR career
Early career
Burton began driving in several races in the Busch Series in 1988 in car number 69 owned by his father John Burton. He competed in the full season for Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1989 in the No. 12 Burton Autosports Pontiac. In 1990, he drove the No. 12 Armour Lower Salt Bacon Buick for Sam Ard, where he won his first career race. Burton and Ard later went to court over financial losses suffered throughout the year. He moved to J&J Racing's No. 99 Armour / Food Lion Chevrolet in 1991 for one year before moving on to FILMAR Racing owned by Filbert Martocci where he would drive an Oldsmobile sponsored by TIC Financial Systems in 1992, and a Ford sponsored by Baby Ruth in 1993. Burton would later make his first Winston Cup start in 1993 in car No. 0 owned by Martocci.
FILMAR Racing
Burton ran his first Winston Cup race in 1993 in the No. 0 TIC Financial Ford Thunderbird for Fil Martocci.
Stavola Brothers Racing
1994 was Burton's rookie year in the Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Raybestos Ford for Stavola Brothers Racing. After five races, he reached a season-high 14th-place finish in the overall standings, but by the end of the year, he dropped to 24th after being disqualified at the Miller Genuine Draft 400 for illegal holes drilled on the roll cage, a safety violation. He earned a season-high fourth place finish on the way to earning 1994 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. He was one of a record-high ten rookies eligible for the award that year, besting a class that included future Cup stars Joe Nemechek, Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti, and older brother Ward. The next year, in 1995, Burton had one top-five, along with a ninth-place finish. He also missed three races and finished 32nd in points.
Roush Racing
In 1996, Burton signed with Roush Racing, where he began driving the No. 99 Exide Batteries Ford Thunderbird. He finished 13th overall in the season points standings despite failing to qualify for the Purolator 500 in March as a new team (provisionals in the first four races were based on 1995 points, and Burton's team did not have points from 1995). His career hit a peak from 1997 to 2000, as he ranked in the top-five in points for all four seasons. He achieved his first career win in 1997 in the Interstate Batteries 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (the inaugural NASCAR race at the track), and would go on to win fourteen more races during the four-year run. In 1998, the team switched to the new Ford Taurus. In 1999, Burton won a career-high six races, including the Jiffy Lube 300 for a third straight year, and clinched two of the series' four majors: the Coca-Cola 600 and the 50th Annual Southern 500, both of which earned him the No Bull 5 $1 million bonus, which would lead to a 5th-place finish in points. In addition, after winning at Darlington in March, he would lead the point standings for the next five races. His best points finish was in third in 2000, just 294 points behind champion Bobby Labonte. On September 17, 2000, Burton led every lap of the Dura Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, in unique circumstances (this race was the only Loudon race to use a restrictor plate, imposed for safety reasons after the deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. earlier in the year at the track). From 1997 to 2000, Burton won an event at NHIS every year.
In late 2000, Burton and the No. 99 welcomed Citgo as a new sponsor. In 2001, Burton won another two races, upping his career total to seventeen, and he finished tenth in points, climbing from a season low of 38th, which was his position after four races. In 2002 and 2003, he finished 12th in the points and had eight top-fives and twenty-five top-tens combined, but failed to win a race in either year. Citgo then announced that they were leaving Roush Racing at the end of the 2003 season.
Burton ran the 2004 season without a primary sponsor, with races frequently being sponsored by his personal sponsor SKF. Rumors began to arise that Burton would be leaving Roush Racing. After originally denying the rumors, it finally happened in mid-2004 when, just before the Sirius at The Glen, Burton signed a three-year contract with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), leaving Roush after eight and a half years with the team.
Richard Childress Racing
Upon joining RCR, Burton was placed in the No. 30 AOL Chevrolet. He was the fourth driver to pilot the car that season; Johnny Sauter was promoted from RCR's Busch Series program to take over the car but was released after thirteen races and was replaced by Dave Blaney, with Jim Inglebright making a one race appearance at Sonoma. Blaney was later released when Burton became available. Prior to the driver change, Burton himself was struggling, with an average finish of 20.8 and was 23rd in points. In the thirteen races after he changed teams, though, the same stats were improved to 16.6 and eighteenth. During the offseason, Burton and his team remained with RCR but were switched to the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, replacing Robby Gordon. Blaney took his place in the No. 30, which was renumbered to the No. 07.
2005 was Burton's first full season at RCR, and he had six top-tens and three top-fives for the year, including a 3rd-place finish in the Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix in April and a second place finish in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In 2006, Burton won the pole for four races, bringing his total number of career pole wins to six. This poles were for the Daytona 500, the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Prior to qualifying for the Daytona 500, Burton was extremely enthusiastic about the improvements to RCR as a whole. He proved this by winning his first pole since September 2000 at Richmond. The Allstate 400 pole gave Richard Childress Racing the front row as teammate Clint Bowyer recorded the second fastest time. Burton's best finish came in the Chicagoland race, where he finished second. He led the most laps at Indianapolis and Bristol's Sharpie 500, setting the pace for more than half the race. In the Busch Series, he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway, breaking his four-year winless streak in any series. After the race at Richmond International Raceway Jeff qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. During the Chase, Burton won the Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway, breaking a 185-race winless streak dating back to October 28, 2001, allowing him to take the points lead, and retain it for the next three races. However, a series of relatively poor finishes in subsequent races, including a flat tire at Talladega while running in the Top 5 and an engine failure at Martinsville, eliminated Burton from contention for the championship.
Michael Waltrip Racing
On December 2, 2013, it was announced that Burton had been hired by Michael Waltrip Racing to run a limited schedule for MWR's research-and-development team, Identity Ventures Racing. Burton made his debut in the No. 66 at Las Vegas.
Prior to Burton's scheduled start at Michigan, it was announced he would be replaced as R&D driver by Brett Moffitt, though he would be given one more start at Loudon, which was expected to be his final career race.
Stewart–Haas Racing
However, on August 14, 2014, Burton was picked up by Stewart–Haas Racing to replace Tony Stewart in the No. 14 at the Pure Michigan 400 and the Irwin Tools Night Race, in the aftermath of the death of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr.
Post–racing career and business ventures
On December 3, 2013, NBC Sports Network producer Sam Flood announced that Burton would become an analyst for NBC in 2015.
On January 9, 2023, a consortium consisting of Jeff Burton Autosports, Inc., DEJ Management, Kevin Harvick Incorporated, and Trackhouse Racing Team purchased the CARS Tour.
Personal life
Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who is a former Cup Series driver. Married to wife Kim, they have two children: Paige and Harrison. Harrison, like his father, is a NASCAR driver, and currently races in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and is the winner of the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Burton also has another brother, Brian, who did not drive in NASCAR but rather took over the family's construction business.
Burton's family ancestry can be traced back through Colonial Virginia where the landing of his earliest ancestor Richard Burton came over to the Jamestown Colony in the 1630s. The earliest his ancestry goes is back to the 1200s with his ancestor Rodger de Burghton.
Burton is a fan of Bruce Lee. At the Coca-Cola 500 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, he raced a special Bruce Lee paint scheme on his No. 99 Ford.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led ** – All laps led.)
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
International Race of Champions
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)