Jeff Burton stepped out of his comfort zone of a race car recently into uncharted waters for a cameo appearance on a popular daytime soap.
But NASCAR fans don't have to worry about him switching careers after briefly acting on ABC's "General Hospital" that will air Wednesday. He said he "doesn't see being an actor in his future," but he would do it again.
"It was cool. It was a neat experience," Burton said in a recent phone interview. "I didn't have to play anybody else -- thank God. I had a hard time playing myself much less anybody else."
Burton appears in a scene as a patron of a bar, Jake's. He has lines with bartender, Coleman, played by Blake Gibbons, and Dr. Patrick Drake, played by Jason Thompson. The Dr. Drake character is an avid NASCAR fan, but doesn't recognize Burton and some comedy follows, according to ABC officials.
Burton, 41, a 21-time winner in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, admits he was "a little nervous" during taping last month and "didn't want to be an imposition."
"They are there working and I'm there kind of goofing off and I didn't want to mess their day up," Burton said. "They are professionals and I'm certainly not."
Fellow NASCAR drivers have also ribbed him about it.
"I had a few text me wondering why General Hospital would have me and they wanted to know if I was going to die in the episode," he said. "One asked me if I'd be in a sex scene. They tease me about everything."
He did use a trick to help him during taping.
"I had my lines on a piece of paper on the table in front of me covered up with a newspaper," he said. "I could glance at them. I know my limitations quite well. Short term memory is one of my limitations."
The appearance came about because Burton's publicist, Christine Brownlow, is a "General Hospital" fan and saw in previous episodes Dr. Drake's passion for NASCAR so she thought it "would be neat if an actual race car driver was on the show."
Burton said he never thought he'd ever be on a soap though he's done commercials and appeared on the show "One Tree Hill" in 2006 playing himself.
"I have a radio face. My looks don't put me on a soap opera, I can tell you that," he laughed.
He watched a little of "General Hospital" with his grandmother when he was younger. He's interested in watching some episodes now to see the actors he met on set.
"They work hard and a lot of hours. It's pretty impressive how they learn their lines and all the camera men and light people behind the scenes," he said.
Both Burton and the actor, Thompson, said it was also a good way to introduce NASCAR fans to General Hospital and vice versa.
While Thompson's character is into NASCAR, the actor had never been to a race and didn't watch racing on television growing up in Canada. Thompson, 32, said in a phone interview that he got a chance last month to ride in the pace car with Burton in California and later attended a race.
He said he has "a lot of respect" for Burton and his whole team. Driving in the pace car, he said "was awesome. I had a blast." He said he rode at 110 mph with Burton at the wheel sharing his "expertise" as they went around the track.
"Jeff definitely turned me into being a fan," Thompson said.
He may even want to race himself one day like another nighttime actor, Patrick Dempsey, who plays Dr. McDreamy on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." He owns Dempsey Racing and raced in the Rolex 24 in Daytona Beach in January.
"I don't think I'll make it a profession, but I'd love to race cars," Thompson said.
Photos: ABC (American Broadcasting Companies) and News-Journal photographer David Tucker
really enjoyed seeing some much needed attention paid to my favorite driver Jeff is a driver i;ve followed for years ,and seems to be overlooked when compared to other drivers,media coverage,so good to see you and the television main stream media going Jeff Burton CRAZY,thx