The mystery in NASCAR that no one has been able to solve

[Joe Fan]

Why Jeff and Ward Burton, who were reared by the same parents and grew up in the same house, have noticebly different Southern accents. Jeff's Southern accent is ever so slight that he really sounds like most Americans. However, Ward sounds like he is from the backwoods in the deep South. He talks noticeably slower than Jeff and seems if he is talking with a mouth full of marbles (or is that a wad of chew?).

The mystery is a complex one that looks to be one that can only be solved by the FBI.

[gomick]

hmmm, that is an interesting point joe fan

[Emfa]

Hmmmm... interesting how those 2 boys turned out! I wonder if Jack Roush paid for Jeff to go to speech school?!?!?!?

[Lee]

Ward's accent is a Southern Virginia accent, most people from that reigon tend to have this accent, which is noticeably different from a Southern accent. With the S Virginia accent, syllibals are accented differently from a pure Southern accent. It sounds more like the accent from the Low Country of South Carolina, or coastal Louisana. Jeff's accent is, however, more the traditional Southern accent, although somewhat subdued.

[Joe Fan]

Has anyone noticed how Darrell Waltrip's accent has all but disappeared over the years?

I can't remember where I heard this but I thought someone, maybe it was Darrell, was told back in the 80's by NASCAR themselves(?) that if the series wanted to escape the Southern-redneck image, and become more maistream in the U.S., that the drivers would have to lose their thick Southern accents.

[Lee]

I doubt, very seriously, that NASCAR has ever tried to force ANYBODY to change their accent! Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty, Junior Johnson (before he retired) Buddy Baker are just a few, who have been spokesmen for NASCAR, and all of them have thick country accents! There is nothing wrong with a Southern accent, it does not sound any more ignorant, or uneducated than a "Bronx (New York City, you know, like Archie Bunker) accent", and is much prefered to the nausous, grating, fake-sounding, look down my nose, I'm so superior to you "Bostonian accent", (every time I hear ted kennedy speak, I want to PUKE, due to his accent, as well as his politics!) No, there is nothing wrong with a Southern accent! Racing wise, it is simply another attempt to by the detractors of NASCAR, generally road-racing, and open-wheel types, especially the cart jerks, to steriotype, degrade, insult, and/or to otherwise shine a bad light on a series that continually, week in and week out, KICK THEIR COLLECTIVE BUTTS! If Fraud (sp) were alive, he would say that they suffer from something akin the the ENVY that a female develops about a certian part of the male's anatomy (sp)!

[racer10]

WARD LITERALLY LIVED IN THE WOODS FOR A YEAR BEFORE HE STARTED RACING SERIOUSLY. HE TRAPPED AND KILLED GAME FOR MONEY. I READ IN STOCK CAR RACING MAGAZINE A FEW YEARS AGO. HE LIVED LIFE LIKE PEOPLE LIVED 100 YEARS AGO, BY LIVING IN THE WOODS AWAY FROM CIVILIZATION. THIS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO HIS ACCENT. I HAVE A THICK ACCENT AND HAVE NO RESPECT FOR PEOPLE WHO JUDGE PEOPLE BY THEIR ACCENT. IT TAKES A REAL SON OF ***** TO JUDGE SOMEONE BY THAT

[ginazimski]

Ward Burtons accent is most likely because he is tongue tied which gives this type of accent.

Gina

[Ax Slinger]

Bah... Contrary to popular belief, trees do not make people have accents. I was born and raised in Alabama, and have lived in the woods almost all of my life. I used to have a pretty good Alabama accent going, mostly from being around my grandparents, but it wore off after I moved to California. And it doesn't have anything to do with education either. Both of my grandparents are professors at Auburn University. They are just Southerners, and they sound like it.

Considering NASCAR is basically a southern thing (at least it used to be) even if you consider recent additions of northern and western races, I can't see how anyone would think they would try to get people to lose their accents. After all, a majority of teams are based in the south, including the ones with drivers from the north. It's all about how a team performs, not how it's members talk.