How are Ward Burton and Jeff Burton related? Here's what you need to know

The Burton name has been synonymous with NASCAR over the last three decades. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, both Ward and Jeff Burton made their mark on the Cup Series.

Both are now retired after having highly successful careers behind the wheel. Here, we'll take a look at how Ward and Jeff Burton are related and what they accomplished over their respective Cup Series careers.

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Ward Burton is the older brother of Jeff Burton

Ward Burton was born on October 25, 1961. His younger brother, Jeff Burton, was born on June 29, 1967. Both drivers are from South Boston, Virginia. Ward first burst onto the Cup Series scene in 1994 and drove the #31 car for A.G. Dillard Motorsports. He drove for the team for a year-and-a-half before moving to Bill Davis Racing to drive the #22 car. In 1995, Ward won his first career Cup Series race at the Rockingham Speedway.

Ward continued driving for car owner Bill Davis but didn't win again until 2000, when he won at the Darlington Raceway. He won at the South Carolina track again in 2001. In 2002, Ward won NASCAR's most prominent race, the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway. His final career win came that same year at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Ward continued racing from 2003-2007 until his retirement after the 2007 season.

Like his older brother, 1994 was also Jeff's first full-time season in the Cup Series. He drove for Stavola Brothers Racing for two seasons, but failed to win a race. In 1996, Jeff joined Roush Racing to pilot the #99 car. He won his first career race in 1997 at the Texas Motor Speedway and notched two more victories that year. Jeff followed that up with two more wins in the 1999 season.

He had a breakout year in 2000 as he won a career-high six races, including when he led all 300 laps to win at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and finished a career-best third in the points. He won another two races in 2001 before going winless in 2002 and 2003. Midway through 2004, Jeff left Roush Racing to join Richard Childress Racing. He spent his final years of full-time Cup racing with RCR and won four races. Jeff retired from full-time Cup Series competition in 2013 and joined the NBC Sports broadcast team in 2015.

Ward's son, Jeb Burton, has made his own mark on the Xfinity Series circuit. The 32-year-old has a pair of victories at the Talladega Superspeedway, one in 2021 and the other in 2023. Jeff Burton's son, Harrison Burton, made his way to the Cup Series in 2022 behind the wheel of the #21 Wood Brother's Racing car. Harrison registered his first career Cup Series win at Daytona last September.