LONG POND, Pa: For the second consecutive week, Jeb Burton found himself involved in a spectacular crash in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
During Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Burton was running comfortably inside the top-20 when Santino Ferrucci lost control of his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra at the exit of Turn 3 sending up a cloud of white smoke which sent drivers scrambling trying to avoid him.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. driving the No. 48 Big Machine Chevrolet Camaro plowed into the side of Ferrucci’s race car sending him careening towards the inside pit wall at the same time Burton was trying to scoot by on the bottom in his No. 27 Puryear Chevrolet Camaro.
Stenhouse’s car connected with Burton’s right front tire which launched Burton’s car into the air and flipped on its roof where it slid just past the start-finish line before coming to rest.
The AMR safety team immediately arrived on the scene of the incident where Burton acknowledged he was OK and the AMR team quickly went to work to overturn Burton’s car back onto four wheels.
Approximately four minutes later, Burton climbed from his battered No. 27 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro where he waved to the fans before making the mandatory trip to the infield care center where he was later evaluated and released.
“Man, that was not good,” said Burton. “Hate it for my guys. Those guys work really hard on our race cars and we don’t have a lot of cars. To tear up another car, two weeks in a row isn’t good.
“Appreciate the safety crew, they got to me fast. Appreciate all of my partners for sticking with me, it’s been a tough year. But we’ll keep digging and working on some good stuff for next year. Hate it for our guys. The main thing is we can build another race car and I’m OK.”
After finishing 33rd at New Hampshire, Burton for the second consecutive week finished 33rd and occupies 17th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings with seven races left to go in the regular season.
Burton, the son of former NASCAR Cup Series winner Ward Burton needs to either find a way to Victory Lane or cut his 123-point deficit to Landon Cassill to have any shot at making his second ever Xfinity Series Playoff run.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series resumes action next Saturday, Jul. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Pennzoil 150 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
