NASCAR
TALLADEGA, Ala. – A race that saw many huge wrecks and several underdogs up front ends with a heartfelt victory. Jeb Burton is a NASCAR winner once again, two years after his first Talladega Xfinity triumph. The polar opposite of his rain-shortened 2021 victory, this race went into double-overtime. Burton also gives Jordan Anderson Racing their first win ever, as the 27 team took the checkered flag.
Contradicting what this race would later become, Stage 1 ran completely green. Justin Allgaier got position late and threw a huge block on Jeb Burton to take this win.
The first major accident of the day would prematurely end Stage 2. Coming out of turn two, the 02 of Blaine Perkins barrel-rolled several times down the backstretch. At the exact same time, the 66 of Dexter Stacey went hard into the inside wall. Both drivers did walk from their cars, but Perkins was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. This handed the Stage 2 win to Jeb Burton.
After facing a pit road speeding penalty earlier, Austin Hill found the front early in Stage 3. Hill was going for a third-straight superspeedway win and a fourth victory in 2023. Several drivers staying out under caution however buried Hill in the field, giving up track position he would never gain back.
New faces at the front of the pack late included: Ryan Truex, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, and Daniel Hemric. All of these drivers would run into trouble though, as two massive accidents happened mere moments apart.
The first late big one was costly for JR Motorsports, as a bad bump from Josh Berry sent Sam Mayer spinning in turn three. Also collected in this mess was Justin Allgaier, sidelining all remaining JRM Chevrolets.
The intensity would only pick up from here as laps ticked down. Daniel Hemric would get turned across the pack from the lead, appearing to take out nearly the entire field. Hemric’s No. 11 also came to a rest upside down, but he was removed from the car without issue.
With few cars left running, overtime number one would be short-lived. A debris caution was triggered before the white flag. The top two were Jeb Burton and Sheldon Creed, both aiming to win their way into the Playoffs.
On the second attempt at overtime, Burton got enough of a push to clear Creed into turn three and held off every charge until the checkers. Only six months removed from Jordan Anderson’s horrific Truck crash at Talladega, he goes to victory lane as a car owner.
“The only thing I’m disappointed about is I didn’t get to do a burnout,” Burton said. “I blew out the transmission. Man I’m pumped up, and out of breath from yelling. I went through some stuff in the off-season, and I’m more focused now than ever. These guys have made racing fun again for me.”
“Thank you to Solid Rock, Celsius, State Water Heaters, Alsco, God’s Pit Crew, everyone that helps us, Jordan Anderson and John Bommarito especially. For our little team, you have no idea how big this is. This is huge, we’re locked in the Playoffs, I’m trying to get my damn voice back too.”
“I can promise you one thing, we’re going to drink a lot of beer tonight. My buddies better be ready when we get home, we’re going to burn it down”
Behind Jeb Burton and Sheldon Creed at the finish, the top-10 were: Parker Kligerman, Cole Custer, Brennan Poole, Caesar Bacarella, Parker Retzlaff, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, and Josh Williams. Hear from some of these drivers below on this wacky Talladega race.
By virtue of finishing fourth, Custer also pockets the Dash4Cash bonus. Custer, Burton, Creed, and Kligerman are the four drivers going for the $100,000 payday next week.
The next stop for the Xfinity Series is The Monster Mile of Dover Motor Speedway. Coverage of the A-Game 200 begins Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The fourth and final Dash4Cash race, the concrete track offers another chance at a valuable Playoff berth.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
