Burton comes from a long family line of racing in NASCAR's premier
series. Burton's father, Ward, is a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and
Daytona 500 Champion, and Burton's uncle, Jeff, is also a former NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series driver and current NBC Sports broadcaster. Along with his family's
racing background, Burton brings four years of NASCAR experience to Richard
Petty Motorsports. He competed full time in the Camping World Truck Series in
2013 and 2014, earning one win, seven Top-Five finishes and 20 Top-10 finishes
in 50 starts. In the Sprint Cup Series, he competed for BK Racing in 2015 with
28 starts.
"I'm really excited to be competing full time in the XFINITY
Series for Richard Petty Motorsports this season," Burton said. "When
you think NASCAR, you think Richard Petty, and I'm really looking forward to
continuing their winning tradition and contributing to the legacy that is
Richard Petty."
Veteran Sprint Cup Series crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, will be
atop the pit box for Burton in the 2016 season. Blickensderfer joined Richard
Petty Motorsports in 2013, serving as the crew chief for NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series drivers Marcos Ambrose and Sam Hornish Jr. Blickensderfer also worked
with Richard Childress Racing and Roush Fenway Racing, winning twice with Matt
Kenseth including the Daytona 500 and once with David Ragan.
"We have worked with Jeb on a few opportunities over the past
couple of years, and they just didn't fall into place," commented Brian
Moffitt, Chief Executive Officer at Richard Petty Motorsports. "We feel
Jeb is an extremely talented young driver, and I'm happy we have him in our
organization. He's proven he can win races and compete at a high level in the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and we believe he can do the same in the
NASCAR XFINITY Series."
Jeb Burton and the No. 43 Ford Mustang will hit the track on
Friday, February 19 for practice in preparation for the NASCAR XFINITY Series
season opener at Daytona International Speedway. A sponsorship announcement is
expected to be made prior to Friday's first practice session.
Now that is some good news.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad start for Jeb and the #43 - ran decent in the Powersource 300, not the finish they'd have liked. Jeb showed more fight than Dakota Armstrong did in that car.
ReplyDelete