Burton rallies for a track best 11th place finish at Bristol

Jeb Burton earned a hard fought 11th-place finish in the rain delayed UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) on Thursday morning, his track best finish in two starts at “Thunder Valley.”

Burton started the 200-lap event from the 15th position after fighting a perpetually loose condition in Wednesday afternoon’s lone practice session. However, the tides were turned at the drop of the green flag and the Estes Express Toyota Tundra swung to the tight side. Burton, who was initially trapped on the bottom side of the racetrack on the start, found himself outside the top-20 when the competition caution flew on lap 50. During the first half of the event, Burton radioed in to crew chief Jeriod Prince that his Toyota Tundra was, “really tight through the center and off the corner.” Prince and the ThorSport Racing team went to work trying to improve the handling through numerous chassis adjustments.

 

By the race’s third yellow flag at lap 112, Burton had gone a lap down to the race leaders, but that’s where the rally began. Prince made a gutsy strategy call to keep the No.13 Tundra on the race track and take the “wave around” to cycle back to the lead lap. On lap 147, the Estes Express team caught the caution they needed, and came to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires, fuel, and another round of adjustments. After the lap 153 restart, Burton took advantage of the changes, driving through traffic and capturing his career best Bristol finish, finishing 11th in the 13th event on the 2014 NCWTS schedule.

 

Thorsport PR