Burton fell into role of safety advocate

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Winston Cup driver Jeff Burton didn't ask for his perceived role as NASCAR racing's safety guru.

"I never came to that conclusion," Burton said, laughing. "I think you guys (media) did."

But Burton, 35, an admitted talkaholic, isn't one to shy away from what he feels are his responsibilities as a professional athlete -- no matter what the consequences.

	Credit: Turner Network Television

"Many athletes look at it as a burden, almost," Burton said, shaking his head while smiling. "I've heard some athletes say they don't like being role models -- that they're not a role model, they're an athlete.

"Well, that's a terrible attitude to take. One of the things that being a public figure allows you to do is to have a voice -- and people listen. For whatever reason people listen to athletes -- they listen to movie stars."

As is well-documented in the media, Burton is a staunch advocate of safety research and using the best possible seats, restraint systems and other cockpit amenities.

Burton doesn't shy from what he feels is one of his responsibilities.

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"I've been blessed with -- or cursed with, depending on how you look at it -- a mouth that moves all the time," Burton said. "So I don't mind talking about the things that I'm involved in.

"The safety issues that we have had thrust upon us and still are facing -- I've been one of the people that's been willing to talk about it and to lay out my opinions and ideas."

Burton said the risk that he's taken is that his concern is misconstrued, as an underlying reason for the current performance slump his team is mired in, in the Winston Cup Series.

Burton, who has 17 career Winston Cup victories, has not won since October 2001. He doesn't mark that off to any overly cautious tendencies.

"I'm not happy about it (reputation) when we don't run well and people say we don't run well because Jeff's afraid he's going to get hurt," Burton said, "because that's the silliest thing in the world.

"You know, in my Busch Grand National car last year we won five races and sat on however many poles that we sat on. That car goes every bit as fast as the Winston Cup car does, so what?

Many people focused more on safety when NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Burton wasn't one of them, because he said safety was already one of his causes.

"I've gotten the reputation of being a safety guy (but) I never set out at any point in my career to say I was going to focus on safety," Burton said. "I really don't look at it much harder today than I did five years ago.

"When the topic came to the forefront, I was one that was willing to talk about it. With Earnhardt's death everyone believed that I had ratcheted up my effort (but) that wasn't the case at all.

"I was doing the same things before Earnhardt's death that I was doing after Earnhardt's death."

Burton and nephew Jeb open helmet safety campaign

Burton says there are good days for his advocacy.

	Burton and his nephew, Jeb, helped kick off a helmet safety program.

That was the case when Burton and his nephew Jeb, along with officials from Cottman Transmission and Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced a program to give consumers free or reduced price bicycle-style safety helmets, through July 1, 2003.

"It's a wonderful thing when corporations like Cottman and CITGO get involved in programs in the community," Jeff Burton said. "They do more than just put their name on the side of a race car.

"There's a tremendous amount of head injuries that happen on a yearly basis -- many of those by kids riding skateboards and all sorts of things without helmets.

"For Cottman to be able to offer helmets for free or at a very low cost is a heckuva nice thing to do for the community and a great thing to do for our children."

Jeff Burton has a daughter, 7 and a two-year-old son; as well as several nieces and nephews, so the cause is important to him.

"We make it a rule in our house when our kids are on anything that's moving they're to wear a helmet (and) my daughter wears a helmet when she rides horses," he said. "It's a great cause -- a wonderful way to impact a community in a positive way.

"Cottman deserves a lot of credit for stepping up to the plate and getting involved to improve something. If we can help one kid to avoid being injured or worse yet, it was worth it.

"We've already cut some radio commercials and there will be in-store promotions telling the public about the campaign and about safety."