Burton's No. 99 may run partial schedule in '04

Team committed to 14 races, is still looking for sponsor

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Burton's unsponsored No. 99 is committed to running at least 14 races in the Nextel Cup series in 2004, but Roush Racing president Geoff Smith said Wednesday there is a chance it might only be 14.

	Jeff Burton's No. 99 Ford is still without sponsorship for the 2004 season. Credit: Autostock

Burton and Roush said last week that Burton would return to the team for next year, with or without sponsorship. Previous backer Citgo announced in June it would not be back after this season.

"We've got a business plan for 14," Smith said. "That's without even having started the season. Our plan is to run all 36. That's what we're designed to go run. But I don't want to unequivocally say that nothing is going to interrupt that. As we add sponsorship, it automatically adds races. We have to keep that one open."

Roush Racing solved one sponsorship dilemma Wednesday, signing a multi-company deal to back Greg Biffle's No. 16 team. But Roush is still working on sponsorship for the 99.

"We're working with three parties right now, trying to put together a combination of races," Smith said. "I don't know if all three will work, but I'm pretty sure two out of three will get us going."

Smith said Burton's team could get an 11th-hour deal.

"This next 30 days, you can't get a hold of anyone in corporate America," Smith said. "The activity will pick up. Mid-January, we start to get the last-minute shoppers from there until Daytona to see what we can do. Long run, I'm bullish. I need to be. I'm kind of betting my job on it."

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Burton has been with Roush Racing since 1996, scoring all 17 of his NASCAR victories in the No. 99. Because of the team's current lack of sponsorship, Burton was in the rumor mill late this year, perhaps leaving Roush.

But that wasn't the case, Smith said.

"The first consideration of Jeff's was, 'I don't want to leave. That's the last thing I want to do. What can we do for a plan?'" Smith said. "Our view was, 'This is what we can do.' We had to make a decision as to whether we were going to go.

"We all came back and huddled and said, 'This is crazy. He wants to be here. We have a great group of people that want to be here to work. He's had a great record and is only 36 years old. Let's make sure we keep making the investment.'"

The team went back to Burton and talked about the "scenario of uncertainty" about the sponsorship, Smith said. But Burton said he "absolutely" wanted to stay and never talked about leaving.

"He never, ever once suggested that that was a consideration," Smith said. "It was more about the confidence we all had about making this program work. We know if we can get the program back to where it was, there's going to be sponsorship.

"This next year might be really tough on the company, but we're confident we can all get through it."