Last season, it was well-documented the speed that Jeb Burton and Jordan Anderson Racing brought to the superspeedways. In 2024, it doesn’t appear that speed has disappeared.
Burton, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro with brand-new sponsor Golden Corral, topped the sole practice session for the Xfinity Series on Friday, ahead of Saturday’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona.
Posting a time of 48.338 seconds (186.189mph), the native of Halifax, Virginia posted the quickest time of the session while in a multi-car draft, which included defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer, among others.
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Sammy Smith, making his first on-track appearance with JR Motorsports this weekend at Daytona, was second-quickest in the session, just three one-thousandths of a second behind Burton.
Sheldon Creed was ranked third in practice, driving the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, while Cole Custer, and Creed’s teammate Ryan Truex completed the top five.
Jeremy Clements was sixth, with fellow underdog drivers Sage Karam and Jordan Anderson tucking in behind him on the speed chart in seventh and eighth-place, after both ran several laps in the draft.
Daniel Dye was ninth, while Anthony Alfredo completed the top-10 in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Our Motorsports. Dye, driving for Kaulig Racing, needs qualifying to happen on Saturday for him to qualify for the event.
Frankie Muniz, looking to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in Saturday’s United Rentals 300, ran in a two-car tandem with team owner Joey Gase, ranking 31st on the speed charts in the No. 35 Ford Mustang.
Each of the 44 drivers attempting to qualify for Saturday’s event made a lap in practice on Friday, the slowest of which was Stanton Barrett, whose quickest lap time was 18.396 seconds behind the session leader.
Barrett, along with Natalie Decker, Caesar Bacarella, Daniel Dye, David Starr, and Joey Gase are the six drivers hoping qualifying is run on Saturday, as they would be sent home early if the field doesn’t qualify.