Jeb Burton falls back to fourth position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Driver Point Standings due to a transmission issue early on in the Chevrolet Silverado 250. The three-day inaugural event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) was busy for the 21-year old Rookie of the Year candidate, competing in both the NCWTS as well as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Cracking the top 10 in the final practice session, Burton managed to land in 11th position for Sunday’s race. Despite a transmission issue, Burton and the No. 4 Arrowhead truck was among the top-five fastest lap times on track and were able to fight back to 22nd position by the time the checkered flag dropped.
During the weekend’s two extended test sessions, Burton and his Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) team stayed patient and learned the road course, placing the No. 4 truck in 14th and 17th place before the two official practice sessions, where Burton scored 12th and ninth fastest among the field. Remaining consistent, the No. 4 Arrowhead Chevy landed just in the middle by qualifying 11th on the grid. After the green flag dropped, Burton fell back two positions before the first full-course caution came out on lap 7. Sticking with Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr.’s plan, Burton remained on the track rather than coming to pit road.
Burton restarted in seventh position and quickly entered the top five just before reporting a bad vibration in the No. 4 truck. It was not long before Burton radioed to Hillman that he had no third gear in his truck. Making a quick decision, Hillman told Burton to remain on the track while the No. 4 Arrowhead crew prepared for repairs in the garage. By lap 17, Burton had dropped to 18th position and was headed to the garage for a new transmission. Within 15 minutes, the TSM crew had replaced the transmission and the No. 4 truck was on its way back to the track. Receiving fuel before joining the field on lap 27, Burton began hitting his marks again from the 26th position and 10 laps down.
As the second caution arose on lap 33, Hillman continued to implement his plan, leading Burton to pit road for a splash of fuel. Just before the third caution on lap 46, the No. 4 Arrowhead Chevy had gained two positions, placing him in 24th. Under the full-course caution, Burton pitted for four tires, Sunono fuel and an adjustment to both rear shocks. With less than 10 laps remaining in the Chevrolet Silverado 250, the No. 4 truck had jumped to 22nd position and was running among the top-five fastest lap times on the road course. In an eventful ending at CTMP, Burton managed to avoid multiple wrecks on the final lap and crossed the finish line in 22nd position. Dropping one place on the NCWTS leaderboard, Burton sits in fourth place, trailing just two points behind Ty Dillon.
Hillman quickly communicated to the No. 4 team, “Good job today boys. We worked under pressure, got the truck back out there in no time and were just as fast as anyone out there. We work together, we learn together.”
“My team is awesome,” said Burton. “We had a top-five truck today and if we hadn’t had an issue early on, we could’ve put up a fight. As frustrating as it is to have one of the fastest trucks on the track and finish outside of the top-20, we all worked hard, learned a lot and didn’t do half bad for our first time on a road course. I’m looking at the big picture here. We had the speed today, and we’ll have it in Iowa.”
Looking to make a comeback, Burton and the NCWTS will revisit Iowa Speedway for the Fan Appreciation 200 presented by New Holland. Catch the action live on Sunday, September 8 on FOX Sports 1 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
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