It’s now the home stretch for Xfinity Series driver Jeb Burton. Heading into Saturday’s race at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the son of NASCAR great Ward Burton kicks off a six-race run to hopefully solidify his place in the 12-driver Xfinity playoffs.
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On Jeb’s upcoming dance card are Indianapolis, Iowa, Watkins Glen, Daytona, Portland and the regular season finale at World Wide Technology Raceway (also known as Gateway). If Burton can hang on to his current 12th place ranking, he’ll qualify for the seven-race Xfinity playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons.
Burton, who turns 33 on August 6, is among a logjam of drivers vying to finish among the 12 playoff contenders. Heading into Indy, 59 points separate six drivers who have the best chance at making the post-season tourney.
Taylor Gray (+29 in front of Burton), Sammy Smith (+18) and Nick Sanchez (+16) are ahead of Burton, who has 497 points. But close behind are Burton’s cousin Harrison, who is 13th and seven points behind Jeb, as well as Ryan Sieg, who is 14th and 30 points behind Jeb.
“You can lose 30 points in one race real fast,” Jeb Burton said. “The biggest thing is for us to not make a mistake.
“It’s what we need to focus on us and just try to make our cars the best they can be and capitalize if (his opponents) make mistakes. That’s the key. Just focus on us and hopefully if we can execute and do what we need to do, then we’ll make it.”
Now in his third full-time season of driving for Jordan Anderson Motorsports, Jeb has been looking forward to returning to Indianapolis because it’s one of the Xfinity Series’ most high-profile races. It’s also a place where Burton hopes to get back on-track after a rough last three weeks, when he’s struggled with finishes of 27th, 20th and 20th.
“A lot of eyeballs are on the playoff picture,” Burton said. “We just haven’t had good results the last three weeks. We want to get the momentum shifted and turn around.”
The Halifax, Virginia native has had some good showings at Indy in his eight previous Xfinity starts, including a fourth-place finish in the 2019 event and the pole for the 2020 road course race, both times while driving for JR Motorsports.
“I’m excited to get to Indy,” Burton said. “We had a really good car there last year with this team. We qualified 11th and got wrecked the first lap running ninth.” He still managed to complete all 100 laps and finished 19th even with the damaged race car.
Burton continued, “That was disappointing, but I’ve always been really good at Indy. It’s a good track for me. I feel like the package will be good for our car.”
Saturday is a big race for Burton and his sponsor
Not only is Indy a pivotal race for Jeb, it’s also a pivotal race for sponsor CELSIUS Energy Drink, as Indy is one of three races where it is the primary sponsor on Burton’s car, while serving as an associate sponsor for the rest of the season. Burton also serves as a brand ambassador for CELSIUS for the entire season.
“CELSIUS has been a great partner of mine (since 2023),” Burton said. “We’ve built a great relationship. We wouldn’t be able to do the things that we do with our race team without partners like CELSIUS. We’ve got a lot of exposure on the TV side and different ventures on the business side as well, selling a lot of products.”
You might say Burton puts his product where his mouth is. “I’m kind of a high-energy guy already, I’m always on the go,” Burton added.
“During this weekend, I’ll have some CELSIUS as well. I use it before my workouts, kind of like a kickstart to my workout. If you’re driving a race car, you’ve got to be hydrated. They work really well.”
And with on-track temperatures expected to be around 130 degrees on Saturday, hydration and maintaining mental focus will be equally as important as being fast behind the wheel.
While Burton takes every other Xfinity Series driver as an equal rival, he has a bit more affinity for his cousin, Harrison, son of former Cup driver and current TV analyst Jeff Burton. “We’re racing against my cousin for one of the playoff spots and Ryan Sieg,” Jeb said.
“Both of those guys I have a lot of respect for and we all race clean together. There’s a lot of different tracks that are in the mix for these next six races that it’s going to come down to.
“I need to outrun those two guys. I’m racing those two guys for six weeks and then there’s a new challenge ahead. That’s the goal and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
In addition to Indianapolis, two of the other remaining regular season races stand out to Burton: the unpredictable road courses at Watkins Glen and Portland.
“Road courses have been a tough thing for our team,” Burton said. “We finished eighth at Mexico, but then we went to Chicago and didn’t have a good day. Then we went to Sonoma and didn’t have a good day.
“The road courses just present opportunities for mechanical failures. They present opportunities for people to make more mistakes. They’re kind of crazy. They’re definitely wild cards. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out.”
Speaking of road courses …
Earlier this week NASCAR announced that it will hold another street race on Naval Base Coronado in San Diego next year, at least temporarily replacing the Chicago Street Race on the schedule. Burton likes the possibilities the San Diego event presents.
“I like going to places for the first time,” he said. “I wish (NASCAR would) move that race around all the time and keep mixing it up. It’ll be fun, and you’ll go to a new market. There’ll be a lot of energy there, and you’ll get a lot of new faces to the racetrack. So it should be a good event.”
While he’s not overlooking anyone, Burton is keeping close tabs on his cousin, Harrison.
“Me and my cousin have been 25 points from each other all year long,” Jeb said. “It seems like when they have a good day, we have a good day. Or if we have a bad day, they’ll have a good day. Or if he’ll have a bad day and I’ll have a good day.
“I think his average finish is probably like 14, and mine’s probably 15. Last week he qualified 9th, I qualified 10th.
“We’re right on top of each other, so it’s going to come down to whoever makes the least mistakes. We’re going to race each other hard but clean, but yeah, it’s going to be tough with family dynamics.”
