Jeff Burton should have been born in Missouri, because the Virginia native has always been the kind of guy who either says or infers the phrase “Show Me!”
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But when it comes to the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge — essentially a race within a race — which starts Saturday night at Atlanta and continues for a total of five straight races, Burton doesn’t believe when drivers or teams say the tourney and the $1 million prize aren’t motivating factors.
“I can promise you that people will downplay it when they get knocked out, but they are paying attention,” Burton said on this week’s edition of NASCAR: Inside the Race LIVE.
He continued, “There is no question. What would you do with a million dollars? That’s a lot of money and so you take money and then you put competitive spirit and pride on it, and there is no question in my mind decisions are going to be made to try to help win this. And why wouldn’t you?
“It’s not going to jeopardize your race. You still want to finish the best you can. But you are competing against someone that you’re probably racing against for points anyway. And so I just think this is additive. It’s going to be fun to see.”
Letarte agrees with Burton
And then there’s Burton’s fellow NASCAR analyst and show host, Steve Letarte, who agrees wholeheartedly with him.
Letarte also reached back to his old crew chief days to offer what kind of strategy teams and drivers will likely employ as the best-of-32 field whittles down to the best-of-two five races from now.
“Here’s my two cents on it,” Letarte said. “I think every driver knows this exists. Every driver would love to win a million dollars. I think you go to Atlanta, you try to survive Atlanta.
“You try to run as fast as you can and see if you beat the guy you’re trying to beat. I don’t know if there’s a real big strategy and then when we go from 32 to 16, then you take a breath and you say, ‘Okay, where are we? Who are we racing?’
“If I was on top of the pit box, I might try to identify that guy. I’m not willing to give up our strategy to advance. But if I can help my driver advance, man, I’m going to do what I can to do it.”
It’s easy to understand that when pride, points, and a million dollars are on the line, no one’s really sitting this one out — no matter what they say.
