The fact of the matter is that if Ward had Roush, Hendrick, RCR, or any other top-notch equipment, he might have even had a championship. He finished in the top 10 in points multiple times with a team that has recently been locked in a death struggle for the top 35.

Mayfield had Evernham, Penske, and other quality pieces of equipment and still basically lucked out from time to time. Ward in Evernham or Penske equipment would have seen him with at least 10-20 more wins in his career.

Ward’s fanbase is loyal, and seems to be still around. I’ve rooted for every car he’s ever driven, and whenever I hear of a driver injury, a little piece of me hopes that Ward is the relief driver and puts on a show. Davey Allison and Ward Burton are my two favorite drivers, and that’ll never change.

Ward could not adapt to the new high downforce cars, which reward a level of driving finesse and aggressiveness he does not possess. Ward struggled at the 1.5 mile “cookie cutter” tracks where front downforce is critical. Think of where Ward performed best…. Rockingham and Darlington, tracks where car control, driving a loose race car and getting the most out of worn tires is critical. Rockingham is long gone and Darlington gets one race a year, replaced by joints like Kansas City, Chicago, California. The Cup series was changing and Ward simply didn’t have the skill to change with it. During Ward’s time at Haas, the Hendrick engineering group was rapidly evolving car design and guys like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson adapted quickly. Ward didn’t. He is an old skool short track driver where being able to slide the car around is fast. Sad thing is Ward would probably do well in a COT as they’re more what he’s used to, but he won’t get the chance.

Jeremy’s problem is he is an engineer trapped in a driver’s body. He is very knowledgeable about suspensions, shock technology, chassis set up, etc. He’d probably make a good car chief or even crew chief if he applied himself to race shop operations. Jeremy could never get the most out of a car unless it was set up to perfection. His margin for error was microscopic. If the car was a little off, or he didn’t like something about it, he was junk. Jeremy needed to be a driver who could wheel anything as long as it had 4 wheels and an engine, but he wanted to be technically involved in the car itself. With Jeremy, if the car was 95%, he didn’t have the ability or desire to make up the last 5%. Compare that to Kasey Kahne who can do well if you get the car in the ballpark; he has the skill to get the most out of the car. What killed Jeremy’s career is he doesn’t have what Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart or Kyle Busch have, the determination to make up for what the car is lacking.

Any time there are major changes in an industry, there are going to be casualties. Ward and Jeremy weren’t the first and won’t be the last. Hopefully NASCAR can stabilized COT development to let teams and drivers get used to it and refine out some of the rough spots which drivers are currently complaining about.

If you are going to compare Jeremy with anyone thank you for
choosing Ward Burton.