Published: March 24, 2007 11:41 pm      

Burton buzzing with new car

BRISTOL, Tenn. — We know the Car of Tomorrow is bigger on the inside, but not big enough to do cart wheels in. If it were, Ward Burton would probably go end-over-end a few times after qualifying the No. 4 State Water Heaters Chevrolet 14th for today’s running of the Food City 500.

His time of 15.443 seconds was the fastest of all the cars required to make the race on time and Morgan-McClure Motorsports’ best effort of the young season. Burton was obviously happy with the results, but indicated that this team hasn’t been that far off from making every race run to date.

“We’ve been just that close every race, maybe only a few one-hundredths of a second to one-second from qualifying. We just have to figure out some little things — a little aero, a little under the hood, even ways for our team to get the car better prepared,” Burton said.

Burton’s 30th starting grid position in the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 in Las Vegas earlier this month had been his best and only Nextel Cup start prior to this weekend.

“Everybody is working real hard together. It’s tough. If you’re off just a hair it will make you or break you.”

Burton’s Friday morning practice session was anything but good. He needed to improve on his time of 15.737 seconds, the 36th fastest of all competitors. He and crew chief Chris Carrier’s ensuing plan to make adjustments that would hopefully pick up a couple of tenths worked.

“We made some changes to the car here and there that really made it start turning better and were able to get a good lap in. We just need time to work with these cars to figure out what they need to get better.”

The Morgan-McClure Motor-sports racing team is located in Abingdon, Va., just a few miles north of Bristol. Bristol Motor Speedway is considered its home track where history has shown the number four team to be successful from time to time.

Car owner Larry McClure hopes to add to that history in a positive way today.

“We won our first race here at Bristol; Chris has won races here and Ward has run well here,” said McClure, a co-owner of M-M M since 1983. “This track suits our style, but we need to be aggressively in control. Anything can happen, but the more we can run in clean air, the better.”

In the third Car of Tomorrow test session last February, Burton posted a second-best time of 15.678 among all those who participated. He and his team steadily improved their track speed from 119.599 to 121.689 miles-per-hour for the two days.

His speed on Friday was 124.250 miles per hour. McClure was pleased that his team stepped up even though admitting that they probably had less time in the C.O.T. than anyone else.

“Maybe that’s not all bad. We’re learning as we go and if we keep working hard and smart, and don’t forget what we have learned each day, this could be a good thing for us,” McClure said. “It’s a new deal for all of us, but we haven’t forgotten everything we’ve learned over the years.”