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10 Questions Ward Burton reflects on family, tracks and skill
Posted: Saturday May 27, 2000 02:11 PM
Ward Burton has long been one of the most colorful drivers in the Winston Cup garage - and this year, he has been among the most successful. CNNSI.com's Steve Almasy sat down with Ward after Winston Cup practice Saturday morning. 1) What happened in your very first race of any kind?I raced go-karts the summer when I was eight. I remember my dad taking me out to the track in Halifax County with our two-seater. We were leading until one lap to go in the heat race but spun out. We won the main event. , though. It was an open-age division so everyone was my Dad's age. 2) What do you do best as a driver?I'm good with seat of the pants. I don't feel like I need a lot of time to make a decision. 3) What is the weirdest thing to happen to you during a race?Well, one time when I was racing at South Boston we had a fire extinguisher go off. The whole thing emptied out. I just kept driving. We finished second in that race with no brakes and a fire extinguisher going off. I believe we could have won that race if we had had brakes. 4) What would tell a driver starting out?The main thing is the desire. You just have to be willing to make racing No. 1. Most of us were young when we were starting out but even those who did had to make racing top priority. When I got the bug when I was 23 , my friends they'd be going to parties, I'd go to the race shop. 5) What is your favorite track?Darlington, Pocono and Rockingham. I think Darlington is a real challenge, but it's a driver's racetrack. Some people don't like it at all, and you've got them beat before you even get there. 6) If you weren't a race car driver what would you be?
I'd be involved with wildlife conservation. 7) What do you do in your spare time?We have a tax-deductible foundation, the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation. We're always trying to raise funds for that to purchase more land. I like hunting; I used to duck hunt with my grandfather. 8) Where are some of the places you've been that you like?I've been to British Columbia twice and we've been to New Mexico to hunt or fish. 9) Between you and your brother Jeff, who got the brains and who got the looks?Damn, if I know. I think neither one. I know the brains went to our brother Brian. 10) What does Brian do?He's got a real job. He works in the construction company that my dad runs and my grandfather started in the 1930s.
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