Topic: Ward close to being named #4 driver in 2007

Team Infidel

After a long hiatus, Ward Burton is slated to be the full-time driver of the #4 next year. "We haven't completely signed the deal, but we've agreed on one," team owner Larry McClure said. "So it looks like he'll have a good shot at being back in the car next year." Burton's last gig as a full-time driver ended here at Phoenix back in 2004 when he broke a rear end about two-thirds of the way through the event and finished a disappointing 40th in Gene Haas' #0 [now #66] Chevy. To the consternation of his fans, Burton fell off the NASCAR landscape for a time after that. Offers came Burton's way for rides that would have been less than competitive, and he has admitted in the past that perhaps he was a little too picky when he turned them down. When McClure and driver Scott Wimmer agreed to part ways this fall, an outcry from Burton's fans was answered. McClure put the Virginia native behind the wheel of the #4 Chevy for a one-off race at Burton's hometown track in Martinsville in October. Burton started 35th in the Subway 500 and ran respectably all afternoon. Simply staying on the lead lap is an accomplishment on the half-mile Virginia bullring, and Burton kept the Chevy on the same circuit as the leaders to go the full 500-lap distance and finish 26th. Todd Bodine already was slated to start in the #4 car at Atlanta the following week, so Burton's rabid fans had to wait a little while longer to see if he would return. He did just that at Texas Motor Speedway, qualifying in the back of the pack in 37th and finishing one lap off the pace in 25th. Burton's fan base is a big part of the reason why the team is about to put him behind the wheel for the 2007 season.(Yahoo Sports)

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