NASCARs Ward Burton
NASCAR's Ward Burton - From boy to Superstar
Ward Burton is one of the few men in the world of NASCAR that can be called a gentleman. A Virginian native, Ward Burton was born on October 25, 1961 in his hometown of South Boston. He lives there with his wife Tabitha and three children – Sarah, Jeb and Ashton. Ward Burton’s name is synonymous with the word passion on and off the racing tracks. Not much is known about Ward Burton’s background except that he has always been an environmentalist.
Burton burst into the NASCAR scene in 1990, with the Busch Series. He ended his first season in the 21st place and gradually became better with the coming seasons. He came in at 18th place during his second season and in his third season at Rockingham, Burton succeeded in emerging victor. His full time season in 1993 had him at the 6th place. The next year, Burton went into the Winston Cup where he ran 26 out of 31 races in which he won his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finished 35th in standings.
In 1995, Burton returned to the Busch Series for 8 more starts and he did run another Busch Series race until 1999 where he accumulated three top-five and five top-ten finishes with a second place finish at Dover International Speedway. In the next season, Burton was involved in 5 more races. In 2000, Burton was able to win the Mall.com 400 at Darlington Speedway and finished in 10th at the end of the season. In 2001, he won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at again, Darlington Speedway and came in at 14th. In 2002, he won the Daytona 500 at the start of his season and he went o to win the New England 300 but was severely disappointed when his ranking dropped to 25. 2003 was a worse year for Burton as he finished the season in the 21st position. Burton was then unemployed for the next two seasons but he returned in 2006, for the NEXTEL Cup series.
Burton is known as a very active conservationist off the track and founded the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation in which he is also the president. He has also been made the spokesperson for 34 of Virginia’s state parks since 2003. Burton is also politically active as he was given a seat on the board for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District which was formerly the seat for c. Wilson McNeely, IV. In 2005, the Governor of Virginia appointed Burton to the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Burton is involved in a great many causes that is related to the environment. His Ward Burton Wildlife foundation, which was established in 1996, currently manages a 200-acre wildlife refuge system of land that is protected and they also include an 8.5 mile riverfront on the Staunton River.
Burton has made it his priority to educate others in environmental issues, habitat restoration and the protection of depleting resources. The Ward Burton Foundation is an organization that is recognized widely throughout the state and across the land by various heads of government. Burton has made his views on global environment policy issues known to many. He goes on regular lectures to speak at various levels and has often given advice on environmental policies to those with authority.
Even though Burton has to balance racing in NASCAR and saving the environment, he is proof that you can have more than one passion in your life. Burton even makes sure that he spends time with his fans which would be the cause of why he is a popular NASCAR driver as well.
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