Jeb Burton entered Saturday’s regular season finale with a tough task in front of him – he had to make up 31 points on his cousin, Harrison Burton, in order to make the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
Both drivers failed to score any stage points at WWT Raceway (Gateway), and Jeb’s chances of pointing his way into the postseason were looking slim.
Even still, he kept fighting, even making contact mid-race with his cousin as they battled for position on track.
He was running 18th with 52 laps to go, but suddenly, his race (and playoff hopes) came to a rather violent end.
An apparent tire failure on No. 27 Chevrolet sent him careening into the outside wall at the exit of Turn 2. Burton limped on, dragging the car back to the pits as the right-front erupted in flames.
His race was over, but he was quickly checked and released from the infield care center.
"No, not really," Burton said when asked if he had any warning before the violent impact. "We struggled a little bit on the short run today, but our long run speed was pretty good. Just hate it for my guys – wanted to not get a DNF, but that was out of our control. That was a hard hit. Definitely didn’t feel good … But yeah, just sucks, but we’ll go on to Bristol next week."
Burton was the second Jordan Anderson Racing driver to suffer such a hit on Saturday night. Team owner Jordan Anderson crashed hard at the end of the Stage 1 in similar fashion.
Since there were no new winners at Gateway, Harrison Burton locked up the final spot inside the 2025 playoff field.
