Jeff Burton was known as “The Mayor” of NASCAR during his racing career due to his level-headed take on the sport.
Advertisement
While others may often have controversial or negative takes on the sport, with criticisms and inferences, Burton gave his thoughts on topics like Sgt. Joe Friday from the old TV show “Dragnet,” said with his immortal tagline: “The facts, just the facts.”
With the ongoing legal battle between NASCAR and the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports organizations over those teams’ six collective charters — which NASCAR is threatening to sell to other individuals or team owners, a move that has so far gone entirely in NASCAR’s favor — Burton cautions that NASCAR does not lose sight of how its decisions will impact some of its fanbase.
Burton had an impromptu session with the media last weekend at Darlington and gave his take on NASCAR’s decision-making and how it could potentially impact drivers, team owners, and especially fans.
“I think that NASCAR or the NBA or your local diner needs to take data and information from the people that are consuming it, and then the diner, NASCAR, the NFL, they have to make a decision,” Burton said, according to Frontstretch. “The drivers shouldn’t make a decision, but they should be heard. The owners shouldn’t make the decision, but they should be heard.
“The fans shouldn’t make the decision, but they should be heard. We could put a hundred fans in here and all hundred of them wouldn’t agree.”
“At the end of the day (NASCAR has) to take all the information and then they have to make a decision, and that’s just how it has to be. And the drivers should be heard because there’s no one that knows what’s going on out there more than they do.
“But they don’t know what it looks like from the grandstands. So you have to hear that part too. Everyone should have a voice, but at the end of the day, NASCAR has decisions that they have to make.”
Burton: NASCAR Is In A Good Place Right Now
Despite all the conflict and animosity surrounding NASCAR and 23XI and FRM, the sport as a whole is thriving, Burton feels. “We’re in pretty good shape and there’s a lot of energy around the sport,” he added. “There’s a lot of positivity.
“Clearly there’s some negativity as well. But if you look at our drivers and how engaged they, our drivers are engaged more than ever and they’re out with the fans. They’re doing more. I mean it’s really been fun to watch them this year. So, I think that helps build a new foundation of getting fans to know these drivers and appreciate them.”
“A lot of people say this to me, ‘Hey, those guys aren’t as good as y’all were.’ That’s bulls**t. Excuse my language. These guys are damn good at what they do.”
“And there are some of us (former Cup drivers) that couldn’t do it in this environment. There are some that that couldn’t have done it in our environment and there are some that could. Every sport moves, every sport changes. The best quarterback 50 years ago wouldn’t be good enough today.”
Some people might call Burton an eternal optimist, but he tells it like it is. If he sees things positively, he’ll say so.
“I think we’re in great shape,” Burton continued. “I do know we need to be better in some areas and we can’t ignore those. However, I think it’s a crazy, crazy mistake just to say, ‘Well, this is wrong, so it’s all wrong.’ I think that’s a big mistake. And if we make changes based on people thinking that the whole thing is wrong, we have 3.5 to 4 million people watching this thing on weekends. That’s pretty damn good in today’s environment, right?”
“It’s a challenging environment for spectators. It’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of competition, but we can be better, but we’re pretty good.”
Burton: NASCAR Does Listen To Fans In Decision Making
As for fans who feel NASCAR doesn’t listen to them, Burton disagrees.
“You have to do what you think is right,” Burton said of NASCAR. “And with the fans, if a decision is made that doesn’t go their way, they have to recognize. It doesn’t mean that (NASCAR) didn’t listen to the fans.
“It goes the same with the drivers. We will be in conversations with NASCAR about something and they go against what a group of drivers think and so the drivers will say, ‘Well, they didn’t listen to us.’
“They listen to you. They just chose something else. That’s how life is, right? I’ve done this for a long time. My rookie year was ‘94. So, I’ve been here for 31 years. I can assure the drivers, the fans, the sponsors that never before has voices of all those groups been heard more than they are today. Never before. And I get it. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. But it’s not that they didn’t listen. It’s just you have to make a decision.”
