Jeb Burton crossed the line to score his second Talladega win and second career win as cars crashed behind him, an apt microcosm of the race. Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race featured two red flags, twelve cautions, and two overtime attempts.
It’s the first win for his team Jordan Anderson Racing, and Burton was also able to get them a stage victory in the second stage en route to leading 20 laps of the 121 total. The margin of victory over second-place Sheldon Creed was just .113-seconds.
“Man, I’m pumped up and out of breath from yelling,” Burton remarked getting out of his car. “These guys have made racing fun for me again.”
Despite being unhappy to finish second, especially since he lost the lead on the final overtime restart due to the field being set by the closest timing line and not actual track position, Creed was happy with a solid run.
“Nonetheless a great day,’” he said of the narrow loss. “Plate racing is not my best and I’ve been trying to get better at it. Happy to get a good finish. We’ve been up and down this year so just to have a solid day like that is really good for us.”
Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman finished third with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and JD Motorsports’ Brennan Poole rounding out the top five. Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase and Josh Williams who all earned their first top-10 finishes of the season.
Chaos came throughout the race, with two major moments involving cars on their roofs drawing the red flag. First, Blaine Perkins’ car barrel-rolled after being clipped by a sliding Dexter Stacey and hit again by Jade Buford. Perkins and Stacey were both transmitted to a local hospital for evaluation “out of an abundance of caution,” according to NASCAR. The cleanup drew a 12-minute red flag.
The second red flag brought an end to the first overtime attempt, when leader Daniel Hemric was sent into the outside wall after throwing a late block and ended up rolling onto his roof after subsequent contact from the field.
“Just got too far out, it looks like,” Hemric said on seeing a replay of the crash. “For sure late on the block there. I committed – there had been so much give and take on the day.”
Talladega was also a Dash 4 Cash race, with a $100,000 bonus on the line for the highest finishing qualified driver. The qualified drivers weren’t too lucky, though, as only one of them – fourth place Cole Custer – even finished the race. With that, Custer earns the money and remains qualified for next weekend’s round of the bonus competition at Dover Motor Speedway, along race winner Burton, runner-up Creed, and third-place Kligerman.
“You know, we were there at the end and ended up with a fourth-place finish and a $100,000 bonus,” Custer said. “We obviously would’ve loved to get the win, but we had a solid day at a track that I’ve struggled at in the past. We’re continuing to get better.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next week in the A-Game 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Photos: NASCAR at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday Apr. 22, 2023
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Ag-Pro 300
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
Saturday, April 22, 2023
1. (8) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 121.
2. (2) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 121.
3. (38) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 121.
4. (18) Cole Custer, Ford, 121.
5. (17) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 121.
6. (28) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, 121.
7. (4) Parker Retzlaff #, Chevrolet, 121.
8. (26) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 121.
9. (33) Joey Gase, Ford, 121.
10. (23) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 121.
11. (36) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 121.
12. (10) Brett Moffitt, Ford, 121.
13. (32) CJ McLaughlin, Ford, 121.
14. (21) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 121.
15. (27) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 121.
16. (29) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 121.
17. (13) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 121.
18. (1) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 121.
19. (37) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 120.
20. (25) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 113.
21. (9) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, Accident, 110.
22. (31) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 110.
23. (15) Riley Herbst, Ford, Accident, 110.
24. (30) Kaz Grala, Toyota, Accident, 110.
25. (11) Chandler Smith #, Chevrolet, Accident, 110.
26. (35) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Accident, 110.
27. (14) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, DVP, 110.
28. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 100.
29. (16) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 100.
30. (20) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, Accident, 100.
31. (19) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Transmission, 83.
32. (3) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 81.
33. (12) Sammy Smith #, Toyota, Accident, 63.
34. (34) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
35. (22) Dexter Stacey, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
36. (5) Jade Buford, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
37. (6) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 37.
38. (24) Parker Chase, Toyota, DVP, 37.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.96 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 0 Mins, 33 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.113 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 10 for 48 laps.
Lead Changes: 28 among 12 drivers.
Lap Leaders: P. Retzlaff # 1-2;A. Alfredo 3-7;D. Hemric 8-12;S. Creed 13-20;C. Smith # 21;S. Creed 22-23;J. Allgaier 24-27;B. Poole 28;R. Truex 29-32;J. Allgaier 33;B. Moffitt 34;J. Allgaier 35-36;B. Moffitt 37-43;J. Burton 44-50;B. Poole 51;D. Hemric 52-53;R. Truex 54;D. Hemric 55-61;A. Hill 62-75;R. Truex 76-79;B. Moffitt 80-90;R. Sieg 91-106;B. Moffitt 107;R. Sieg 108-109;D. Hemric 110;J. Burton 111-113;S. Creed 114;J. Burton 115-121.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Brett Moffitt 4 times for 20 laps; Ryan Sieg 2 times for 18 laps; Jeb Burton 3 times for 17 laps; Daniel Hemric 4 times for 15 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 14 laps; Sheldon Creed 3 times for 11 laps; Ryan Truex 3 times for 9 laps; Justin Allgaier 3 times for 7 laps; Anthony Alfredo 1 time for 5 laps; Parker Retzlaff # 1 time for 2 laps; Brennan Poole 2 times for 2 laps; Chandler Smith # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,2,1,27,21,48,19,16,8,98
Stage #2 Top Ten: 27,16,19,8,11,21,10,2,9,7
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