WHICH SPONSOR WILL ANSWER THE ROUSH SPONSOR QUESTION?

BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Bristol, Tenn. — Roush Racing has done a masterful job putting together single race sponsorships for Jeff Burton’s Ford Taurus since the season started, some five events ago. Unfortunately, that run came to a stop here at Bristol Motor Speedway and Burton’s car is painted basic black this weekend.

“It’s the get out of my way black Ford Taurus,” Burton said of this week’s austere motif with a No. 99 plastered on the roof and doors.

Asked if driving a car without a sponsor affects him in any way Burton said, “From a competitive standpoint? No. The sponsorship situation is what it is and it’s no different today than it was in January.

“There’s some things going on but they’re not done,” Burton added. “It may make people feel better having a name on the side of the car but the fact of the matter is the sponsorship situation is what it is. There was no company that was ready to do business so there’s no sponsor on the car.”

Finding a positive in the situation Burton pointed out, “We’ll bring a lot of attention to it this week because we don’t have a sponsor on the car; that may be okay. At the end of the day when people see it’s un-sponsored maybe they’ll see it as an opportunity. Certainly people will take notice of it.”

Amazingly Burton ran back-to-back 15.314 laps in qualifying, which got him his 31st place starting position for Sunday’s race.

BUSTED
NASCAR inspectors were busy conducting pre-qualifying inspections at Bristol Motor Speedway where their meticulous checks snared two full cars that’ll be making the return trip from Bristol to NASCAR’s R&D Center in Conover, N.C.

Caught up in pre-qual inspections were Jamie McMurray’s No. 42 Dodge and Larry Foyt’s No. 14 Dodge. McMurray’s car was confiscated after it failed the backlight “X” measurement by more than three-quarters of an inch while Foyt’s car was snagged for roof dimensions that failed to pass specification.

“It’s similar to what we did with the No. 20 [Tony Stewart’s car at Texas] and No. 60 [Kyle Busch’s Homestead, Fla., car] last year,” said NASCAR’s Cup director, John Darby.

What happened after the NASCAR confiscation differed between the teams as the No. 42 unloaded their back-up car, which passed inspection. But the No. 14 decided to head home when their back-up car, a speedway (Daytona / Talladega classed) car, was deemed an inappropriate choice for Bristol’s high-banks.