Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
On Wednesday morning Greg Zipadelli, VP of Competition at Stewart Haas Racing called NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton, known as the Mayor of NASCAR and asked if he had any interest in racing this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, should Tony Stewart decide to not race.
Stewart is still grieving and dealing with the aftermath of the unfortunate incident at Canandaigua Motorsports Park this past weekend and has decided to not race at Michigan this weekend. For an organization that is gingerly taking each day as it comes, Burton is a good choice for the challenging circumstances facing the team.
Burton is known as the Mayor of NASCAR because he is well-respected among his peers for being outspoken in a diplomatic way. He’s a level-headed guy, speaking from his veteran experience and has a way of articulating the issues with common sense. He understands the bigger picture and his role within that context.
“My role here is to hopefully provide a little stability, give that team a chance to have the most success they can have in a very difficult situation,” said Burton.
“Hopefully me being here in some kind of way can help, I don’t know how, but hopefully I can find a way to help a healing process start. I don’t know how that is, but that would be my ultimate goal for everybody.
“Obviously it’s an awkward situation for everybody. But there’s a lot of people at Stewart Haas Racing that work really, really hard and deserve 100% effort from me, and that’s what they’re going to get.”
Burton, is one part of the equation for Stewart-Haas Racing as they continue to keep their eye toward their goals, while managing their grief and the organization. While speculation stirs around their stability, there’s comfort knowing their sponsors are standing with them as they focus from one race to the next.
“From a sponsor standpoint, we’ve got the greatest sponsors in the world,” says Brett Frood, executive vice president at Stewart Haas Racing. “They’re very caring. They understand it’s an emotional time. There’s much sympathy for the family of the young man, and the care for Tony. We’ve had a great deal of support from our partners.
“As far as getting ready for this weekend, the task at hand for Greg, the rest of our crew, is to prepare four cars for our drivers and figure out how to win this weekend at Michigan.”
Watch the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 17th at 1 pm ET. Television coverage begins at 12 pm ET on ESPN with their pre-race show.