Burton

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Jeff Burton once successfully hid a concussion well enough to qualify for a race.

That's one reason why Burton believes NASCAR has a problem with drivers who are in no condition to race hiding injuries so they can get on the track.

Hiding injuries is a hot topic around NASCAR since Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted that earlier this year he hid a concussion. Dale Jarrett, who crashed in the inaugural Cup race at Kansas Speedway last year, has said he doesn't remember the race.

''I'll just be blunt,'' said Burton, who qualified for Saturday's Busch Series race and Sunday's Protection One 400 in the Winston Cup Series. ''If you have a concussion or you have some sort of trauma that doesn't allow you to remember the things you need to be doing in your daily life, you should sit out.''

Burton said he qualified for a race several years ago when he shouldn't have been driving.

''The problem is if you had interviewed me, you wouldn't have known anything was wrong with me,'' he said. ''I covered it up. The medical rule is only good as long as the drivers tell the truth.

''I have watched drivers leave an infield care center and say, 'I'm fine, I'm fine, nothing's wrong. But a few minutes later, they bring them back because the driver doesn't know where he is.''

Welcome aboard
Rookies Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have signed sponsorships with Gatorade. They join Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth, whose contracts were renewed.

Also, Gatorade announced that Victory Lane at all International Speedway Corporation tracks will be renamed ''Gatorade Victory Lane.''

Not much help
As he contends for the Winston Cup in his rookie season, Johnson has not been shy about giving credit to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, four-time Cup winner Jeff Gordon.

But Johnson said Friday that when it comes to preparing for Sunday's race, data from Gordon's win last year isn't much help.

''The technology has evolved so far that we're not even close on the setup,'' said Johnson, who tied a rookie record with his third win last weekend in the MBNA All-American Heroes 400.

''When we look at his notes and the setup, we can't believe that he won here with that,'' Johnson said. ''He'd go 35th today with that setup. It's pretty amazing how fast things are changing.''

Really big show
Sunday's Winston Cup race coupled with the Kansas City Chiefs' kickoff against Miami will make for one of the biggest sports days in the city's history.

With about 80,000 people crammed into Kansas Speedway for the Winston Cup and about another 75,000 at Arrowhead Stadium for the Dolphins-Chiefs game, there will be more ticket-paying fans at sporting events Sunday than on any other day in Kansas City history.

The grand marshal for the race will be Joe Montana, who played his final two years for Kansas City and led the Chiefs to the 1993 AFC championship game.

Other big days in Kansas City include when the Chiefs played Denver in an afternoon game before the Royals played host to St. Louis in the World Series later that night in 1985.

And in 1988, the Royals played their season opener in the afternoon before Kansas and Oklahoma met in the NCAA championship game in Kemper Arena.

Pit stops