Burton began driving a handful of races in the Busch Series in 1988 in car number 69 owned by his father John Burton. He competed in the full season for Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1989 in the No. 12 Burton Autosports Pontiac. In 1990, he drove the No. 12 Armour Lower Salt Bacon Buick for Sam Ard, where he won his first career race. He moved to J&J Racing\'s No. 99 Armour / Food Lion-sponsored Chevrolet in 1991 for one year before moving on to FILMAR Racing owned by Filbert Martocci where he would drive an Oldsmobile sponsored by TIC Financial Systems in 1992, and a Ford sponsored by Baby Ruth in 1993. Burton would later make his first Winston Cup start in 1993 in car No. 0 owned by Martocci.\n', '

Burton ran his first Winston Cup race in 1993 in the No. 0 TIC Financial Ford Thunderbird for Fil Martocci.\n', '

1994 was Burton\'s rookie year in the Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Raybestos-sponsored Ford for Stavola Brothers Racing. After 5 races, he reached a season-high 14th-place finish in the overall standings, but by the end of the year he dropped to 24th after being disqualified at the Miller Genuine Draft 400 for illegal holes drilled on the roll cage, a safety violation. He had a season-high 4th-place finish on the way to earning 1994 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. He was one of a record-high 10 rookies eligible for the award that year, besting a class that included future Cup stars Joe Nemechek, Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti, and older brother Ward. The next year, in 1995, Burton had one Top 5, along with a 9th-lace finish. He also missed 3 races and finished 32nd in points.\n', '

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