Ward Burton: Advance Auto Parts 500 preview

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Ward Burton will make his 329th NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start when the green flag drops for the Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

"We had the opportunity to test in Martinsville last week and had a pretty decent day. Throughout the course of the test we found some things on the NetZero Chevrolet that we wanted to change to make the car better. Tony and the guys went back to the shop and went to work on it, so when we unload the car for the weekend, we should be a lot further ahead than if we had just showed up to race without having spent an extra day there.

"We haven't been really happy with the way our cars have handled during the last couple of races and we made the decision to add a couple of tests to our schedule to try to get things headed in the right direction. We ran into trouble in Texas that wasn't really our fault, but nonetheless, the handling of the car prior to the accident wasn't where we needed it to be.

"This is a good team with great, hardworking people and a sponsor that deserves the best that we can give them. I think having the opportunity to work the bugs out by doing some extra testing, will help us out in the short-term for sure, but will really pay big dividends in the long run as well."