Burton reiterates commitment to Roush

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jeff Burton, rumored of late to be on his way out at Roush Racing in favor of piloting one of Richard Childress' Chevrolets, said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway that he has had no conversations with Childress pertaining to employment, nor any intention of leaving Roush.

"I don't even know how some of these rumors get started -- Richard Childress will tell you same thing," Burton said. "We have had no conversations this year about me going to work for Richard Childress.

"People choose to write stuff. I think they're bored and have to try to put A and B together to come up with some other equation. I don't know what to do other than show people how committed I am to Roush. I'm not paying a whole lot of attention to it."

Burton has driven Jack Roush's No. 99 since 1996, winning 17 races between 1997 and 2001. He hasn't won since, triggering the speculation that he may leave the organization.

"I have a whole lot of respect for Richard Childress, but my commitment to Roush Racing should go without me even having to say it," Burton said. "It should be seen by everybody."

Thing is, it's not. Burton went to see his team this week to ease their concerns about the rumors.

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"I spent a little bit of time with the team this week talking about it," Burton said. "The fact that we don't have a sponsor certainly puts some pressure on us. Then the rumors start that the driver's going to leave and the team's going to shut down.

"The only reason I'd leave is because all heck did break loose and we did shut down. That puts doubts in their minds, and that's not fair to them. That's why I was upset about it last week - not because of me, hell I could deal with rumors, it's no big deal. But for those guys it's not fair."

Burton has signed a four-race sponsorship deal with Scott's RoundUp, which covers this weekend's race in Talladega, next week at California, Richmond and the NASCAR Nextel All Star Challenge at Charlotte.

"We could grow it longer than that, but right now that's what it's for," Burton said. "I'm real excited about that. This time of year everybody has their lawn on their mind.

"My wife spent the past three days spraying RoundUp everywhere. This came together Wednesday night, so we laughed about that. Pretty funny how that went down."