Indianapolis: Ward Burton preview

"The first time I raced the Brickyard 400 was in 1994 and I was in my rookie season in the Winston Cup Series. I remember being completely overwhelmed when taking the pace laps around the track and seeing the sea of fans that were in the ...

"The first time I raced the Brickyard 400 was in 1994 and I was in my rookie season in the Winston Cup Series. I remember being completely overwhelmed when taking the pace laps around the track and seeing the sea of fans that were in the grandstands. Not only was the number of fans there so spectacular, I also couldn't believe that a place that was known for Indy car racing was so enthused about watching a stock car race."
- Ward Burton, driver of the Caterpillar Dodge, on his most memorable Brickyard 400 experience.

ON WINNING AT INDIANAPOLIS:
"The Daytona 500 is the only race on the NASCAR schedule that is more prestigious than the Brickyard 400," said Burton. "Both races are legendary in their racing history and now that I've been able to get the Daytona 500 win, it sure would be special to add the Brickyard 400 trophy as well."

ON THE TRACK AT INDIANAPOLIS:
"I absolutely love the race track," said Burton. "There is no track we race at on the NASCAR circuit that even compares to Indy. We have some tracks on the circuit that have tracks that are similar in shape or design, but Indy is in a league of its own."

"We had a great race car last year, finished sixth last year and also in 1999," said Burton. "At Indianapolis, you have to have a good motor combination, good pit strategy and be there at the end of the race. A great handling car, like we had at Loudon, will be essential at Indy as well."

EQUIPMENT: The CAT race team is taking a car to Indianapolis Motor Speedway that won at New Hampshire International Speedway. It also sat on the pole for the Richmond spring event, where it led the most laps during the race as well.

TESTING: The CAT team tested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, July 15th and Tuesday, July 16th.

"We had a pretty good test session at Indy," said Burton. "There were a few teams that were faster than us, but I'm not real worried. We've got a good notebook to build on from the past and we've had some great runs there before, so I feel we'll have a good run ahead of us this week.