John Edward "Ward" Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver.

He has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500.

He currently operates the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, a conservation and sportsmans' organization.

Burton's third season in 1992 brought his first win on February 29 at Rockingham in the number 27 Gwaltney car owned by Alan Dillard.

Burton was to drive 20 races for Brewco Motorsports and Kleenex, beginning with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

31 Hardee's-sponsored Chevy for A.G. Dillard Motorsports, winning his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finishing 35th in standings.

He scored three second place finishes that season, at Las Vegas, Darlington and Rockingham, and on all three occasions brother Jeff won the race.

However, he took the lead because Sterling Marlin, who was in front of him at the time, climbed out of his car and tried to fix a damaged right-front fender during a red flag, drawing a penalty as repairs are prohibited during red flag conditions except for non-points paying races.

As Marlin was sent to the back of the field at the restart, Burton inherited the lead and maintained it, holding off Elliott Sadler and Geoffrey Bodine for the win.

[1] He also won the New England 300 at New Hampshire but due to numerous mechanical failures, he fell to 25th in the point standings, but after his win in Loudon, however, 2002 would mark the first and only time in his career that he would win multiple races in a single season.

At Bristol, he was involved in a wreck where Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped into him , and sent him spinning into the wall.

0 NetZero HiSpeed-sponsored car to three Top 10 finishes but was released from the team with two races left in the season.

On November 5, 2006 at Texas Motor Speedway in his next driving opportunity, he started 37th and finished 25th.

In January of 1990, Burton married a young widower named Tabitha Conner (née Throckmorton).

He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation in Brookneal, Virginia.