Jeb Burton snaps top 10 dry spell with JAR’s first win

Jeb Burton last scored a NASCAR Xfinity Series top ten forty-seven races ago at Talladega Superspeedway in 2021, so it is fitting he snapped the drought there when he edged out Sheldon Creed to win Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300. The victory also marked the first triumph for Jordan Anderson Racing, fulfilling their namesake owner’s goal of making the playoffs in just their first year as a multi-car operation.

Burton and Creed traded the lead throughout the final ten laps, which were overshadowed by multiple wrecks. One crash came with three laps to go and caused Daniel Hemric to flip onto his roof in turn four. Oddly, he was not the only car to go over as Blaine Perkins went around on lap 49, resulting in his car barrel rolling multiple times down the backstretch. It was the first NASCAR race with multiple flips since the Cup Series’ 2016 Talladega spring race, while the most recent case in Xfinity was the 2000 Daytona opener.

Amid the carnage, Burton held off Creed to score his second Xfinity win, the first also coming at Talladega two years prior. His JAR team-mate Parker Retzlaff finished seventh to wrap up a strong day for the team.

Interestingly, Burton’s victory came in the #27, with which his father Ward Burton scored his maiden Xfinity victory at Rockingham in 1992. His uncle Jeff Burton even has twenty-seven career Xfinity wins.

“The only thing I’m disappointed about is I didn’t get to do a burnout—blew the transmission out of it,” quipped Burton. “I’m pumped up. I’m out of breath from yelling. Went through some stuff in the offseason and I’m more focused now than ever. These guys have made racing fun again for me.

“Our little team, you have no idea how good this feels. This is huge. Locked into the playoffs. I can promise you one thing: we’re gonna drink a lot of beer tonight.”

Others to enjoy breakthrough finishes include Caesar Bacarella and Joey Gase with career bests of sixth and ninth, respectively. Ryan Ellis nearly added a second top ten for Bacarella’s Alpha Prime Racing in eleventh.

On the other hand, Saturday was a day to forget for JR Motorsports as three of their four drivers wrecked together on lap 100 with Derek Kraus. Brandon Jones, the only survivor from JRM mustered a fourteenth, though Jones had his share of trouble when he was caught up in a wreck with JRM ally Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst on lap 76.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	8	27	Jeb Burton	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
2	2	2	Sheldon Creed	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
3	38	48	Parker Kligerman	Big Machine Racing Team	Chevrolet	121	Running
4	18	00	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	121	Running
5	17	6	Brennan Poole	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	121	Running
6	28	43	Caesar Bacarella	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
7	4	31	Parker Retzlaff	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
8	26	08	Gray Gaulding	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
9	33	35	Joey Gase	Emerling-Gase Motorsports	Ford	121	Running
10	23	92	Josh Williams	DGM Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
11	36	45	Ryan Ellis	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
12	10	25	Brett Moffitt	AM Racing	Ford	121	Running
13	32	53	C.J. McLaughlin	Emerling-Gase Motorsports	Ford	121	Running
14	21	9	Brandon Jones	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	121	Running
15	27	28	Kyle Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford	121	Running
16	29	4	Garrett Smithley	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	121	Running
17	13	19	Ryan Truex	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	121	Running
18	1	21	Austin Hill	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	121	Running
19	37	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet	120	Accident
20	25	38	Joe Graf Jr.	RSS Racing	Ford	113	Running
21	9	11	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	110	Accident
22	31	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford	110	Accident
23	15	98	Riley Herbst	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	110	Accident
24	30	26	Kaz Grala	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota	110	Accident
25	11	16	Chandler Smith	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	110	Accident
26	35	91	Josh Bilicki	DGM Racing	Chevrolet	110	Accident
27	14	10	Derek Kraus	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	110	DVP
28	7	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	100	Accident
29	16	1	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	100	Accident
30	20	8	Josh Berry	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	100	Accident
31	19	44	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	83	Transmission
32	3	20	John Hunter Nemechek	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	81	Accident
33	12	18	Sammy Smith	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	63	Accident
34	34	02	Blaine Perkins	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet	47	Accident
35	22	66	Dexter Stacey	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	47	Accident
36	5	5	Jade Buford	Big Machine Racing Team	Chevrolet	47	Accident
37	6	78	Anthony Alfredo	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	37	Accident
38	24	24	Parker Chase	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota	37	DVP
DNQ		13	Jason White	MBM Motorsports	Ford
DNQ		34	Jesse Iwuji	Jesse Iwuji Motorsports	Chevrolet
DNQ		07	David Starr	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet
DNQ		74	Mike Harmon	CHK Racing	Chevrolet

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points