Burton was born in Danville, Virginia, but considers South Boston, Virginia his hometown. His family ancestry traces back through Colonial Virginia to the Jamestown Colony, with his earliest ancestor being Richard Burton.
Burton began his NASCAR Busch Series career in 1990, competing full-time for four seasons. His first win in the series came on February 29, 1992, at Rockingham, driving the No. 27 Gwaltney car owned by Alan Dillard. He completed the 1992 season in eighth place overall, with one win, three top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes. In 1993, he added three more Busch Series wins, nine top-fives, and ten top-tens, finishing sixth in the final points standings.
Burton moved up to the Winston Cup Series in 1994, running 26 of 31 races in the No. 31 Hardee's Chevy for A.G. Dillard Motorsports. He won his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In 1995, he moved to Bill Davis Racing, winning the AC-Delco 400 at Rockingham toward the end of the season. The 1999 season saw Burton achieve a career-high ninth-place points finish, with six top-five finishes and sixteen top-ten finishes. He scored three second place finishes that season, at Las Vegas, Darlington and Rockingham, with his brother Jeff winning each of those races.
In 2000, Burton won the Mall.com 400 at Darlington Raceway and had seventeen top-ten finishes to finish tenth in the final points standings. The following season, with Bill Davis Racing switching to Dodge, he won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and had ten top-ten finishes to finish fourteenth in the final points standings. He led the most laps in the 2001 Daytona 500, but retired after 173 laps due to an accident.
The 2002 Daytona 500 saw Burton take the lead after Sterling Marlin attempted to repair his car during a red flag, a move that drew a penalty. Burton held off Elliott Sadler and Geoff Bodine for the win. At Bristol later that year, Burton was involved in a wreck with Dale Earnhardt Jr., responding by throwing his heel pads at Earnhardt’s car.
In 2003, Burton experienced poorer finishes and left Bill Davis Racing with four races remaining to drive the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac for Haas CNC Racing. He finished the season 21st in the final points standings. In 2004, he raced Haas CNC Racing's No. 0 NetZero HiSpeed car to three top-ten finishes but was released from the team with two races left in the season. He spent the next two seasons as a free agent before returning to the Nextel Cup Series late in 2006, driving the No. 4 Lucas Oil Chevrolet for Morgan–McClure Motorsports. He started 35th and finished 26th at Martinsville Speedway in his first race with the team. He signed with Morgan-McClure Motorsports to drive the No. 4 car full-time in 2007, but was released in November after a lackluster season.
Following his release from Morgan-McClure Motorsports, Burton did not officially retire. He returned to NASCAR in 2012, signing with Hillman Racing to run in the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, as well as selected races later in the year alongside his son, Jeb. He also joined Turner Scott Motorsports as a driver coach in 2013, assisting with driver development for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series teams.
On November 1, 2005, Virginia Governor Mark Warner appointed Burton to the Virginia Board of Wildlife Resources, filling a seat previously held by C. Wilson McNeely, IV. Burton is the founder and president of the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation and has served as a spokesperson for Virginia’s 34 state parks since 2003. He has also partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to promote wetland protection. He received the Governor's Environmental Excellence Award in 2008 and served as an honorary co-leader in fundraising efforts for the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
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