Although he hasn’t had much of a chance to showcase his talents throughout the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Jeb Burton has made the most of his opportunity with JR Motorsports, so far. Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Burton collected his fourth top-10 finish in five starts this season.
Burton’s latest great run ended with a season-best fourth-place finish and it came at the most iconic speedway in the world.
Throughout the chaotic event, Burton, 27, drove with poise. He didn’t put himself in bad situations and when insane things — like the top-two crashing out with less than 10 laps to go — Burton was in a position to capitalize.
After the race, Burton talked about his incredible performance, and he got choked up as he held back tears while describing his difficult journey.
“We’re racing again,” Burton said. “The sports so tough, sponsorship driven. I have a lot of emotion when you can run good like that.” I’m lucky to have a team like this and the sponsors that I’ve got. It means a lot.”
Burton was over-joyed with finishing inside the top-five at Indianapolis, but the racer inside him still wanted more.
“It’s a little disappointing because I knew we were in a position to win,” Burton said.
#NASCAR … ?@JebBurtonRacing? gets emotional talking about his 4th-place finish at ?@IMS? pic.twitter.com/6a9nfaCN7M
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) September 7, 2019
Burton now has an average finish of 11.4 this season, which includes a 32nd-place run at Bristol which ended in a DNF for failed brakes. Burton was running well in that race and had a shot at another top-10 before misfortune struck.
Without that DNF for brake issues, Burton would have a 6.25 average finish this season.
Even with the one bad run in the equation, Burton still has a better 2019 average finish than all but nine full-time NXS drivers. If teams without a secured driver for 2020 aren’t targeting Burton for full-time action, they need to have their heads examined.
There are two races left in 2019 for Burton. He will get a chance to keep showcasing his skill at Texas Motor Speedway and the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
