SPEEDWAY, Ind – In his first NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race since Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in late May, Jeb Burton made the most of his two-race opportunity with Biagi-DenBeste Racing during Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After J. Streicher & Co. failed to live up to their commitments and financial responsibility with Burton at Richard Petty Motorsports, the son of former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton found himself on the sidelines without a ride not even halfway during his first full-season of competition.
Vowing not to let a potential superstar remain on the sidelines for long, a powerhouse trucking company came calling again.
Estes Express who built a relationship with Burton during his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series mainstay at ThorSport Racing in 2014 maintained a relationship with the 23-year-old afterward and announced earlier this month they would support Burton in two XFINITY Series races at Indianapolis and Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
The Halifax, Virginia native proved their investment is paying off.
Despite seven races off the grind, Burton showed little rust and was quickly in racing form during practice on Friday. After solid practice runs, Burton wheeled his No. 98 Estes Express Lines Ford Fusion around the flat 2.5-mile track 15th in qualifying.
That effort put the Virginian in the first of two heat races, starting eighth. During his 20-lap heat race, Burton impressed and was one of few cars able to make gains on the track – finishing sixth.
Lined up 11th for the 60-lap main, Burton struggled with a tight racecar. The handling woes slid him back four positions. A green-flag pit stop on Lap 26 allowed the team to make adjustments, but Burton found himself one lap down because of the inferior pace by leader Kyle Busch.
A Lap 49 caution allowed the team to work on the car again. A solid change by the crew allowed Burton to pick up a spot on the restart and fall into the free pass spot. A Lap 54 caution came and put Burton back on the lead lap.
With NASCAR overtime on deck, Burton found himself at the back of the field and out of laps to make a significant gain – but the driver did finish 12th, his fourth lead lap finish of 2016.
“It was a good day,” Burton told CATCHFENCE.com. “We struggled early in the race but Jon (Hanson, crew chief) made a good adjustment and the team had a nice stop which gave me what I needed to get up on the wheel a little more.
“When the caution came out there at the end, I was able to get up to the lucky dog spot which locked us in twelfth. “I really appreciate the support from Estes and the opportunity from Biagi-DenBeste Racing.”
As for Richmond, Burton has confidence to build on Indy’s performance.
“We’ll race again as a team later this year,” added Burton. “I’m looking forward to it.”
He should be looking forward to it.
Biagi DenBeste Racing won the XFINITY race at Daytona in July with Cup invader Aric Almirola at the helm. And while the likelihood of pulling off the same feat twice in 2016 will be difficult, Burton’s tenacity and passion for racing makes him a good storyline and often a driver to cheer on — not only because of his racing roots, but because he’s a driver that many people still believe in.
Now, it may be up to Estes to expand their two-race foray into something more and give Burton that chance to do what many people feel he has the talent and finesse to do.
Win.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
