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I remember Jeff Burton's first career win like it was yesterday. Well, it wasn't. It was the first race at the Texas Motor Speedway in the spring of 1997. I was working for ESPN at the time and the race was, as they say, on another network.

But Burton had actually been working for our network. He was doing a little TV on the side in case that racing thing never really worked out. Just kidding about that part, but he really was a "correspondent" for RPM 2Night. He has always been one of the most eloquent and polite drivers in that I have ever met in all of motorsports. The wonderful thing about his contributions was that he did a variety of things for the show, some playful, some serious.

Burton once did a piece from a track where was competing in a Truck Series race. He was explaining some of the characteristics of the truck and comparing them to a Cup car. At the end of the piece, he unloaded groceries from the bed of the truck.

Burton could also walk you through some of the most technical or touchy stories in the garage. He was outstanding and I think it meant a lot to the younger people on our staff that he would actually take the time and give his full attention to the piece. I had known Jeff for a few years but for the newer people at RPM 2Night I think they felt like they were on his team, instead of him being on ours. Burton can do that, you know, make a new friend feel like an old pal.

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After Burton won at Texas we asked him to come down and be on the set with John Kernan. The studio was just outside of Charlotte and Burton agreed. That wasn't the best part; the best part was he brought his wife, Kim, with him. We didn't really have a "no autographs" policy at RPM but it was pretty much understood that unless the circumstances were special, autographs were a no-no. I think everyone got a Jeff Burton autograph that night. It was like we were part of the winning team and our driver had come by the shop to say hello.

We gave Jeff and Kim a bottle of champagne as a congratulatory gift.

I can't speak for everyone that worked on that show, but that was certainly one of my favorite days there.

It is now 10 years later and a lot of things have changed since then; Jeff Burton is not one of them. He is still polite, still eloquent, and still winning. In 1997 he Burton turned 30 years old, he won in Texas, he finished fourth in the standings; Jeff Gordon won the championship. This season he turned 40, he won at Texas, he heads into Watkins Glen fourth in points; Jeff Gordon is the championship leader.

Recently, Burton was leaning on a table in the garage at Indianapolis during a rainout. He and Robbie Reiser, crew chief for Matt Kenseth and a former "teammate" with Burton at Roush Racing, were solving the problems of the world, and the sport. I just listened. They told stories, laughed, talked about their kids and tried to come up with a plan for qualifying when the schedule had to be shortened because of bad weather.

I followed Burton back to his hauler. He had made a stop in the NASCAR rig and was walking toward the back of the garage where the trucks are parked. Along the way he stopped to talk to a few people, signed autographs and did a radio interview, all in the rain.

Jeff Burton was in Indianapolis, where it does rain in the summertime, and his disposition was as bright as ever.

"I love what I do," was his explanation.

"I enjoy the people, I really enjoy the opportunity to compete. I'm a competitive person from a competitive family," Burton said.

"I take a lot of pride being able to compete at a high level and at the same time, I have a great deal of respect for the people I'm trying to beat which is why I get enjoyment when I'm able to beat them. And it's also what wakes me up in the morning, when they beat me. I know we're racing against some of the very best in the business and we're not always going to be where we need to be but that doesn't mean we can't get there. So, respecting my competition helps me a great deal both when we beat them and when we get beat." (Continued)