From RacingDiva.com

Tabitha Burton, wife of Winston Cup driver Ward Burton, shares with us her story about her life and what it’s like being an important part of one our race day heroes. As you can imagine it’s not easy and it comes with a lot of sacrifice. It’s a full time career keeping a busy family happy, nonetheless, her down to earth attitude and quite style and grace let’s us believe that it’s all in days work. We think Tabitha Burton is a remarkable women, and once you read her story we are convinced you will think so too.  -  Mona Singleton

How has your life changed since becoming the wife of a professional racer?

When Ward and I met he was working for the family owned construction company and racing late model stock cars at the local level on the weekends. He would work all day and then work on the race cars all night. We were married just before he began his first full year of Busch Grand National racing. So I have been there to watch his career grow. We have gone through all of the changes together as a family. Every year things get busier. The Winston Cup schedule becomes more demanding.

I believe that the hardest part of the lifestyle to adjust to is the fact that we spend more and more time away from home. There is always something that the children are involved in at home that they want to stay behind for. I try very hard to give our family as much of a normal life as possible. It is difficult to balance everything so that no one feels like they are missing out on something that is important to them.

The children and I travel with Ward the majority of the time. Just keeping up with the racing schedule has made us all more organized and focused on the things that we need to do. The time constraints have taught us to make the most of what little free time we do have.

Wards career as a Winston Cup driver has also given us many wonderful opportunities. We have been able to travel and meet so many interesting people. Our children have been exposed to many things. It has definitely enriched our lives. Our children have been to every zoo, museum, shopping mall, and theater that are anywhere near the racetracks. We always try to take them out into the surrounding communities and show them things of interest.

The biggest change for me personally has been that I have given up my career as a social worker. I enjoyed my job at the local mental health center. I worked in substance abuse prevention/early intervention and also with crisis intervention. I loved helping people and I miss that very much. It was very gratifying to know that I was making a difference in someone's life.

Even though I miss my job I know that for right now the place for me is with Ward and the kids. While he is driving and the children are still at home it is very important for us all to be able to be together. After Ward retires from driving and the children are grown I intend to resume my career. However, I am sure that he won't be retiring any time soon.

How would you feel if Jeb wanted to become a driver? Or Sarah?

First of all I will stress to my children that college is not an option but a requirement. I will encourage them both to get a complete education before they try to embark on the working world. If they want to race, I would support them. I think most mothers would prefer to see their children do something a little less dangerous but I want them to both be happy and find a career that they will enjoy. Sarah is very interested in animals and riding horses. I would be very surprised if she wanted to drive. However, Jeb is another story. He has loved race cars for the whole eight years of his life. He has spent more time playing with his cars and watching racing than anything else. He is very competitive and treats everything like it is a race. If he continues to show interest in it his father and I will help him to succeed any way that we can.

How do you spend your free time?

I don't have much free time to pursue hobbies. I spend most of my time taking Jeb and Sarah to their extra curricular activities. Jeb is a brown belt in karate. He also plays soccer, baseball and basketball. Sarah dances, plays softball and rides horses. I like to be involved in their lives and spend as much time as I can with them.

I also handle some of our business and I enjoy being involved with that. When we do get a break, we like to go snow skiing. Sarah and Jeb are very good skiers and we like doing things that all four of us can do together. In addition, we enjoy going out on the lake with the jet skis.

I love to exercise. Working out is a big part of my free time. I enjoy it so much that I feel guilty if I don't get to do it.

When I am alone I enjoy reading. I like to play golf but that is a sport that you need to play often to gain any sort of skill and I can't ever seem to find enough time for it. Every year we try to get to the beach a few times and that is very relaxing for me. I always look forward to those trips.

What do you feel to be important issues in Motorsports?

I believe that there are many important issues in Motorsports. A book could be written on this question so I will focus on the family atmosphere within the Winston Cup series.

We have been very lucky to come into this business at a time in which it is family oriented. Most of the drivers have motor homes so that they can bring their families along and be able to spend some time with them. I cannot imagine how hard it would be if we did not have this.

Also many of the tracks do a great job in keeping the lots family friendly. Some places that we go even have playgrounds for the children. Just having a place for the family to be gives Ward piece of mind that we are nearby and taken care of. He is able to go out on the track and do his job and know that we are there and that we will all be able to be together that evening. Also, we enjoy being at the track so that we can be involved in what is going on with his job. When he won the race at Darlington this spring it made it even more special to know that the kids would be able to celebrate with us in victory lane. They feel the emotional strain when things are not going well and they should be able to share in the victory as well.

What do you think the current perceptions of women in racing (press, drivers, etc.) are? What (if anything) needs to be done to change that?

I think that there are more jobs that ever open to women in the field of Winston Cup racing. There are many women who handle public relations for drivers, there are women involved with sponsorships and women in the press. However, there are not many women drivers. I do not feel that this is a reflection upon the ability of women to drive. I am sure that there are many women who could drive and be very competitive in the Winston Cup series. However, I believe that it would be much harder for a woman to succeed on the track because many of the men would probably not drive her as clean as they would a man. There is always a period in the beginning of a new drivers career when they have to earn the respect of the other drivers. If they prove their ability they may be able to find someone to draft with. If not, they will be hung out to dry. It would be very hard for a woman. Even if she is good and she does earn the respect of many other drivers, there will always be a few who have resentment and feel that she should not be there. And those few could ruin it for her every time she has a chance to have a good run.

Women have been fighting for equal rights for years. I believe that the only way to make big changes would be for many women to attempt to run Winston Cup races at the same time. At least this way they would have some support. NASCAR is very fair and they give anyone a chance to make races. If women show up and meet all of the usual requirements they will have the opportunity to qualify for races.

What is a typical day for you like?

On a weekday I get up by 6 a.m. and start breakfast and household tasks. I make lunches and make sure Jeb and Sarah both have everything that they need for school. We usually all eat breakfast at different times. Sarah leaves for school at 7. Sometimes I take her, sometimes Ward takes her and sometimes my mother takes her. If I don't take her then I take Jeb to his school. He doesn't leave until 8. After both kids are at school, I come back home and workout. By the time I finish my workout and get showered and dressed it is normally 11. Then I usually go out and do errands. I still handle some of our business so I usually stop by our office at some point in the day. It seems like the days just slip away and before I know it is time to pick Jeb up from school. He takes karate three days a week and also has soccer practice so I take him home for a
quick snack and to change and then take him to whatever activity he has on that day. Sarah stays at school until almost six because she rides horses every day after school. By the time we all get home from activities it is usually six to seven p. m. I usually cook dinner and we eat at home because by this time everyone is exhausted. After dinner the kids do homework we enjoy getting outside. They may ride four wheelers or just play with the dogs. That pretty much sums up what a weekday in my life is like.

On race day we all get up early and pack up. We all eat breakfast and organize the bus. Then we all go to
church together. After church we eat lunch together and go to driver introductions. The kids go back to the
bus with my parents and I go out to the car with Ward. After he gets in and I wish him luck and safety I go to the pit cart and do lap times. After the race we get to the plane as quickly as we can so that we can get home at a decent hour and begin our week at home.