John Edward "Ward" Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500. A member of the Burton racing family, he is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver and NASCAR on NBC broadcaster Jeff Burton, the father of current NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jeb Burton, and the uncle of current NASCAR Cup Series driver Harrison Burton. He currently operates the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, a conservation and sportsmans' organization.

NASCAR Busch Series career

Burton began his NASCAR Busch Series career in the 1990 season and competed full-time for four seasons. In his first season, he had 23 starts with three Top 10 finishes, ending the season in 21st place. His results improved steadily over the next three years. For his second season, he had 29 starts with two Top 5 finishes and 10 Top 10 finishes, completing the season in 18th place.

Burton's third season in 1992 brought his first win on February 29 at Rockingham in the number 27 Gwaltney car owned by Alan Dillard. He completed the season in eighth place overall with one win, three Top 5 finishes and 10 Top 10 finishes. His final full-time season in 1993 brought three more wins, nine Top’s 5, and 10 Top 10’s, ending up in sixth place in the final points standings. In 1995, Burton started driving for Buz McCall in the No. 95 Caterpillar, Inc.-sponsored Chevrolet after John Tanner was released. He drove for Bill Davis Racing in 1996 for eight starts in the No. 22 MBNA-sponsored Pontiac. Burton did not start another Busch Series race until 1999 when he ran five more races for Bill Davis with a sponsorship from Siemens. He accumulated three Top 5 and five Top 10 finishes including a second-place finish at Dover International Speedway. He also ran one race for Innovative Motorsports and their No. 47 Chevrolet.

In 2000, Burton ran five more races for Davis with a sponsorship from Polaris Industries and one race with Innovative Motorsports. He then ran two races in 2001 for Tommy Baldwin Jr.'s new team with a Pillsbury sponsorship.

On January 2, 2007 Brewco Motorsports Inc. announced Burton would drive the No. 27 Kleenex-sponsored Ford Fusion in the Busch Series in 2007. Burton was to drive 20 races for Brewco Motorsports and Kleenex, beginning with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway. He was released late in the season.

NASCAR Cup career

1994–1999

Burton moved up to the Winston Cup Series in 1994. He ran 26 of 31 races in the No. 31 Hardee's-sponsored Chevy for A.G. Dillard Motorsports, winning his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finishing 35th in standings. He returned to the No. 31 ride in 1995 but he was released on August 20, one day after finishing 6th at Michigan. The next weekend at Bristol, he moved to the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing MBNA-sponsored Pontiac after 21 races, and he won the AC-Delco 400 at Rockingham toward the end of that season. Caterpillar became the new primary sponsor for the car in 1999, when he picked up a career high 9th-place points finish, with 6 top five finishes and 16 top ten finishes. He scored three second place finishes that season, at Las Vegas, Darlington and Rockingham, and on all three occasions brother Jeff won the race.

2000–2007

In the 2000 season, he won the Mall.com 400 at Darlington Raceway and had seventeen Top 10 finishes to finish 10th in the final points standings. Bill Davis Racing switched to Dodge in the next season, when he won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and had ten Top 10 finishes to finish 14th in the final points standings. Burton had also led the most laps in that year's Daytona 500 but retired after 173 laps after having been involved in the Big One.

In the 2002 Daytona 500, Burton drove among the lead cars and was among the lead pack late in the race. However, he took the lead because Sterling Marlin, who was in front of him at the time, climbed out of his car and tried to fix a damaged right-front fender during a red flag, drawing a penalty as repairs are prohibited during red flag conditions except for non-points paying races. As Marlin was sent to the back of the field at the restart, Burton inherited the lead and maintained it, holding off Elliott Sadler and Geoffrey Bodine for the win.^[1]

He also won the New England 300 at New Hampshire but due to numerous mechanical failures, he fell to 25th in the point standings, but after his win in Loudon, however, 2002 would mark the first and only time in his career that he would win multiple races in a single season. At Bristol, he was involved in a wreck where he threw his brakepads at Dale Earnhardt Jr. for wrecking him in turn 3 late in the race. 2003 was a season of poorer finishes for Burton. He only had four Top 10s, and he left Bill Davis Racing with four races left in the season to begin driving the No. 0 NetZero-sponsored Pontiac for Haas CNC Racing. He finished the season 21st in the final points standings.

In the 2004 season, Burton raced Haas CNC Racing's No. 0 NetZero HiSpeed-sponsored car to three Top 10 finishes but was released from the team with two races left in the season. He spent the next two seasons as a free agent. He returned to the Sprint Cup series late in the 2006 season, driving the No. 4 Lucas Oil-sponsored Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. His first race with the team was the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 22, 2006. He started 35th and finished 26th as the last car on the lead lap. On November 5, 2006 at Texas Motor Speedway in his next driving opportunity, he started 37th and finished 25th. On December 12, Burton signed with Morgan-McClure Motorsports to drive the No. 4 car full-time in 2007. That year, his performance was lackluster, posting a best finish of 14th. On November 12, he was released from Morgan-McClure Motorsports so that the team could "evaluate performance." Morgan-McClure closed up shop shortly afterward.

Following his release, Burton did not officially retire; however, it was not until 2012 that he returned to NASCAR, signing with Hillman Racing to run in the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, as well as selected races later in the year as a teammate to his son Jeb.^[2]

Burton joined Turner Scott Motorsports as a driver coach for the team starting in 2013, where he assisted with driver development for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series teams. However, just prior to the start of the 2014 season, the primary sponsor of the team defaulted on a payment, and the team was shut down.^[3]

Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries

On November 1, 2005, then Virginia Governor Mark Warner appointed Burton to the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries.^[4] As a resident of Halifax County, Virginia, Burton assumed the seat on the board for Virginia's 5th Congressional District that was formerly held by C. Wilson McNeely, IV, who resigned after six years of service.

Burton, an avid sportsman and conservationist, is the founder and president of the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, and he has been a spokesperson for Virginia's 34 state parks since 2003.

Further achievements in conservation

The Governor's Environmental Excellence Award, 2008.
Honorary co-leader of the Virginia Natural History Museum in Martinsville fundraising efforts.
Partner with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to create awareness for the need to protect and create additional wetlands in America.
Involved with the 4-H clubs in Alabama and Virginia through PSAs and assisting 4-H clubs to conduct wildlife enhancement programs on Foundation land.

Personal life

Burton was born in Danville, Virginia but considers South Boston, Virginia his hometown. Burton and his wife, Tabitha, have three children: Jeb, Sarah, and Ashton. His nephew is Alexander Burton. He owns several thousand acres of hunting land in rural Virginia close to his hometown of South Boston, Virginia. He also has a home in Nags Head, North Carolina.

Burton's family ancestry can be traced back through Colonial Virginia where the landing of his earliest ancestor Richard Burton came over to the Jamestown Colony. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation in Brookneal, Virginia.^[5]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NNCC	Pts	Ref
1994	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	31	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR DNQ	RCH 35	ATL 40	DAR 21	BRI 25	NWS DNQ	MAR 16	TAL DNQ	SON 36	CLT 37	DOV 37	POC 42	MCH 29	DAY 36	NHA 42	POC 2	TAL DNQ	IND 31	GLN 24	MCH 29	BRI 36	DAR 34	RCH 25	DOV 27	MAR 35	NWS 18	CLT 41	CAR 9	PHO 21	ATL 41						35th	1971	^[6]
1995	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	31	Chevy	DAY 15	CAR 9	RCH 22	ATL DNQ	DAR 25	BRI 21	NWS 24	MAR 25	TAL 32	SON 21	CLT 41	DOV 38	POC 19	MCH 18	DAY 35	NHA 39	POC 11	TAL 20	IND 35	GLN 19	MCH 6																22nd	2926	^[7]
1995	Bill Davis Racing	22	Pontiac																						BRI 34	DAR 4	RCH 11	DOV 21	MAR 21	NWS DNQ	CLT 7	CAR 1	PHO 42	ATL 5						22nd	2926	^[7]
1996				DAY 26	CAR 41	RCH 13	ATL 15	DAR 38	BRI 33	NWS DNQ	MAR DNQ	TAL 27	SON 10	CLT 11	DOV 16	POC 35	MCH 35	DAY 41	NHA 25	POC 22	TAL 33	IND 36	GLN 32	MCH 35	BRI 8	DAR 40	RCH 37	DOV 7	MAR DNQ	NWS DNQ	CLT 7	CAR 17	PHO 22	ATL 12						33rd	2411	^[8]
1997				DAY 8	CAR 23	RCH 24	ATL 12	DAR 18	TEX 7	BRI 18	MAR 18	SON 10	TAL 42	CLT 36	DOV 34	POC 38*	MCH 35	CAL 28	DAY 26	NHA 36	POC 15	IND 19	GLN 41	MCH 28	BRI 17	DAR 27	RCH 7	NHA 23	DOV 22	MAR 7	CLT 8	TAL DNQ	CAR 26	PHO 42	ATL 9					24th	2987	^[9]
1998				DAY 25	CAR 11	LVS 18	ATL 24	DAR 11	BRI 17	TEX 15	MAR 28	TAL 8	CAL 12	CLT 34	DOV 29	RCH 19	MCH 8	POC 24	SON 40	NHA 23	POC 34	IND 34	GLN 21	MCH 37	BRI 37	NHA 31	DAR 12	RCH 28	DOV 33	MAR 11	CLT 2	TAL 30	DAY 7	PHO 14	CAR 7	ATL 14				16th	3352	^[10]
1999				DAY 24	CAR 28	LVS 2	ATL 8	DAR 8	TEX 16	BRI 9	MAR 27	TAL 32	CAL 6	RCH 9	CLT 8	DOV 22	MCH 4	POC 29	SON 35	DAY 7	NHA 15	POC 40	IND 6	GLN 43	MCH 43	BRI 9	DAR 2	RCH 34	NHA 8	DOV 11	MAR 13	CLT 5	TAL 4	CAR 2	PHO 13	HOM 14	ATL 11			9th	4062	^[11]
2000				DAY 8	CAR 3	LVS 23	ATL 8	DAR 1*	BRI 3	TEX 14	MAR 11	TAL 10	CAL 6	RCH 6	CLT 13	DOV 8	MCH 6	POC 27	SON 21	DAY 7	NHA 18	POC 28	IND 28	GLN 22	MCH 9	BRI 11	DAR 6	RCH 8	NHA 30	DOV 40	MAR 43	CLT 10	TAL 22	CAR 8	PHO 12	HOM 39	ATL 3			10th	4152	^[12]
2001			Dodge	DAY 35*	CAR 16	LVS 21	ATL 11	DAR 12	BRI 5	TEX 21	MAR 22	TAL 33	CAL 42	RCH 21	CLT 9	DOV 14	MCH 38	POC 40	SON 6	DAY 4	CHI 20	NHA 20	POC 38	IND 6	GLN 41	MCH 33	BRI 12	DAR 1	RCH 12	DOV 33	KAN 41	CLT 3	MAR 3	TAL 21	PHO 13	CAR 6	HOM 13	ATL 5	NHA 42	14th	3846	^[13]
2002				DAY 1	CAR 13	LVS 21	ATL 7	DAR 31	BRI 25	TEX 43	MAR 14	TAL 15	CAL 18	RCH 30*	CLT 42	DOV 37	POC 33	MCH 42	SON 40	DAY 9	CHI 41	NHA 1	POC 14	IND 30	GLN 20	MCH 29	BRI 37	DAR 6	RCH 8	NHA 38	DOV 43	KAN 43	TAL 10	CLT 33	MAR 5*	ATL 16	CAR 40	PHO 19	HOM 12	25th	3362	^[14]
2003				DAY 38	CAR 18	LVS 25	ATL 18	DAR 29	BRI 33	TEX 12	TAL 7	MAR 25	CAL 21	RCH 11	CLT 10	DOV 37	POC 8	MCH 30	SON 16	DAY 30	CHI 19	NHA 25	POC 19	IND 26	GLN 6	MCH 14	BRI 13	DAR 19	RCH 15	NHA 39	DOV 29	TAL 14	KAN 21	CLT 28	MAR 18					21st	3550	^[15]
2003	Haas CNC Racing	0	Pontiac																																	ATL 13	PHO 41	CAR 18	HOM 32	21st	3550	^[15]
2004	Haas CNC Racing	0	Chevy	DAY 17	CAR 9	LVS 26	ATL 13	DAR 18	BRI 28	TEX 32	MAR 22	TAL 40	CAL 10	RCH 20	CLT 16	DOV 19	POC 17	MCH 30	SON 24	DAY 40	CHI 19	NHA 29	POC 31	IND 39	GLN 37	MCH 30	BRI 18	CAL 31	RCH 40	NHA 25	DOV 37	TAL 10	KAN 30	CLT 19	MAR 28	ATL 30	PHO 40	DAR	HOM	32nd	2929	^[16]
2006	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR 26	ATL	TEX 25	PHO 28	HOM DNQ	53rd	252	^[17]
2007	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAL DNQ	LVS 43	ATL DNQ	BRI 18	MAR DNQ	TEX DNQ	PHO 36	TAL 36	RCH 35	DAR DNQ	CLT DNQ	DOV 41	POC 33	MCH DNQ	SON DNQ	NHA 43	DAY DNQ	CHI 41	IND 14	POC 43	GLN DNQ	MCH 20	BRI 33	CAL DNQ	RCH DNQ	NHA 41	DOV DNQ	KAN DNQ	TAL DNQ	CLT 43	MAR 38	ATL DNQ	TEX DNQ	PHO DNQ	HOM	47th	939	^[18]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1994	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	Chevrolet	DNQ
1995	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	Chevrolet	21	15
1996	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	13	26
1997			17	8
1998			9	25
1999			18	24
2000			6	8
2001		Dodge	10	35
2002			19	1
2003			17	38
2004	Haas CNC Racing	Chevrolet	19	17
2007	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	DNQ

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBGNC	Pts	Ref
1990	Sam Ard Racing	5	Buick	DAY	RCH 15	CAR 27	MAR 17	HCY	DAR 30	BRI 18			NZH 30						MYB 31	OXF	NHA					BRI 30		RCH 24						MAR 21					21st	2271	^[19]
	Falcon Racing	9	Chevy								LAN 13	SBO 26		HCY 12	CLT	DOV	ROU 13	VOL 25				SBO 6	DUB 7	IRP	ROU 16						CLT 7	NHA 27	CAR 22
	Sam Ard Racing	5	Chevy																								DAR 40
		65	Pontiac																										DOV 40	MAR
1991	Henderson Motorsports	75	Olds	DAY DNQ	RCH 34	CAR 26	MAR 9	VOL 24	HCY		BRI 29			NZH 12		DOV 4	ROU 13																						18th	3145	^[20]
			Chevy							DAR 33					CLT 9
			Buick									LAN 10	SBO 29
	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	27	Buick															HCY 15	MYB 8	GLN 22	OXF 14	NHA 34	SBO 18	DUB 26	IRP 26	ROU 17	BRI 15	DAR 36	RCH 9	DOV 3	CLT 12*	NHA 22	CAR 24	MAR 6
1992			Chevy	DAY 3																		TAL 30			MCH 28														8th	3648	^[21]
1992			Buick		CAR 1	RCH 27	ATL 37	MAR 19	DAR 7	BRI 18	HCY 7	LAN 21	DUB 9	NZH 17	CLT 6	DOV 6	ROU 12	MYB 7	GLN 15	VOL 19	NHA 22		IRP 13	ROU 8		NHA 39	BRI 5	DAR 11	RCH 11	DOV 21	CLT 16	MAR 16	CAR 18	HCY 21					8th	3648	^[21]
1993		2	Chevy	DAY 21									CLT 11			GLN 3		TAL 22	IRP 4	MCH 24	NHA 25		DAR 23		DOV 30	ROU 25	CLT 7		CAR 2		ATL 1*								6th	3413	^[22]
1993		2	Buick		CAR 24	RCH 32	DAR 4	BRI 17	HCY 16	ROU 1*	MAR 1*	NZH 3*		DOV 35	MYB 2		MLW 19					BRI 24		RCH 22				MAR 17		HCY 12									6th	3413	^[22]
1995	American Equipment Racing	95	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	NSV	DAR	BRI	HCY	NHA 13	NZH	CLT 11	DOV 31	MYB	GLN	MLW	TAL 36	SBO 5	IRP 8	MCH 8	BRI	DAR 3	RCH	DOV 12	CLT 38	CAR 4	HOM 31										31st	1389	^[23]
1996	Fred Turner Racing	22	Pontiac	DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH	ATL 8	NSV	DAR 10	BRI	HCY	NZH	CLT 10	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NHA	TAL	IRP	MCH 12	BRI	DAR 19	RCH 16	DOV 14	CLT 41	CAR DNQ	HOM										47th	919	^[24]
1998	Michael Waltrip Racing	14	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	NSV	DAR	BRI	TEX	HCY	TAL	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	RCH	PPR	GLN	MLW	MYB	CAL	SBO	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH DNQ	DOV	CLT	GTY	CAR	ATL	HOM					NA	–	^[25]
1999	Bill Davis Racing	02	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	NSV	BRI	TAL	CAL DNQ	NHA	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV 2	SBO	GLN	MLW	MYB	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH 4	BRI	DAR 4			CLT 6	CAR	MEM	PHO	HOM 10				53rd	851	^[26]
1999	Innovative Motorsports	47	Chevy																										RCH 32	DOV									53rd	851	^[26]
2000	Bill Davis Racing	22	Pontiac	DAY	CAR DNQ	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSV	TAL	CAL 34	RCH	NHA	CLT 34	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NZH	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH 4	BRI				CLT 12	CAR 5	MEM	PHO	HOM				54th	724	^[27]
2000	Innovative Motorsports	48	Chevy																									DAR 5	RCH	DOV									54th	724	^[27]
2001	Tommy Baldwin Racing	5	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT 8	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM 7			70th	288	^[28]
2007	Brewco Motorsports	27	Ford	DAY 32	CAL 34	MXC	LVS 15	ATL 21	BRI 27	NSH	TEX 21	PHO 20	TAL 8	RCH 25	DAR 21	CLT 19	DOV 17	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA 16	DAY 19	CHI 22	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH 35	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	40th	1555	^[29]

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2012	Hillman Racing	27	Chevy	DAY 8	MAR	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	CHI	POC	MCH	BRI	ATL	IOW	KEN	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	59th	36	^[30]