Burton to move to No. 31 Cingular car in 2005

[antig24]

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jeff Burton is getting a new ride next year, but he isn't changing teams.

 

Burton will stay in the Richard Childress Racing organization, but he'll move to the No. 31 Chevrolet for 2005, with Cingular Wireless continuing as the sponsor. RCR and Cingular announced the move Saturday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with Cingular extending its contract through 2007.

 

In addition, all of Burton's current team, including crew chief Kevin Hamlin, will move from the No. 30 to the No. 31, Childress said.

 

Burton replaces Robby Gordon in the No. 31, with Gordon moving to his own Nextel Cup team in 2005.

 

But the big news may have been what wasn't announced. Childress had said he hoped to announce his full team of drivers for 2005, with Dave Blaney supposedly taking over the No. 30 car. Sponsorship for that team is not yet secured.

 

"All those announcements are going to come in the near future," Childress said. "I hate to drag you on because you've been patient. It's just one of those deals where you have to wait. The timing is pretty big, and how the dominos fall is how you can do your announcements."

 

Apparently, the sponsorship domino for the No. 30 car is taking a little longer to fall. But Childress said he would field three full-time teams in 2005, perhaps an indication that sponsorship talks for the No. 30 are in the final stages.

 

"We have pretty much everything done with the exception of some announcements," Childress said. "We have the people, we have the stuff done, we're just see where it goes from there."

 

Burton joined RCR from Roush Racing, where he won 17 races in eight years. In August, Burton left Roush to take over the No. 30 car. Burton is a proven winner whom Childress hopes can interject some life into RCR, which has struggled in 2004 as none of the three teams made the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

 

"Competition is great as long as it's healthy competition," said Childress, perhaps a veiled reference to the friction between Gordon and Kevin Harvick in past years.

 

"I'm excited about it. Kevin Harvick is excited about it because he knows Jeff is going to bring a lot to the table. ... Both of these guys, so far, have had a great working relationship. They talk to each other. They go over to each other's coaches. I think both of them can be a plus for each other, and that's what I'm hoping to get out of it."

 

Harvick's No. 29 team will stay intact for 2005, Childress said. Harvick said at Lowe's Motor Speedway two weeks ago he would leave the team the next time Childress swapped crews, as RCR has done in the past.