#SrigleyStats Weekend Recap: Talladega Superspeedway
Taking a look back at some crazy superspeedway racing from Talladega, plus. a feature for the #SrigleyStats Spotlight Driver, Jeb Burton.
PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Owens, HHP, Courtesy of Team Chevy
This past weekend, both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series traveled to Talladega Superspeedway for the second superspeedway event of the season - if you don’t include Atlanta. As usual, the racing was stellar and delivered some great stories.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, the weather didn’t impact the weekend’s on-track activities, and both the Cup and Xfinity Series, as well as the ARCA Menards Series, got to qualify and race with no postponements or cancelations.
Let’s take a look back at some of the #SrigleyStats from Talladega, as well as a quick recap of each race’s finishing order, and the #SrigleyStats Spotlight Driver for the week.
For those looking for the #SrigleyStats Sheet, don’t worry, that will be released to paid subscribers later this week! If you’re interested in gaining access to the #SrigleyStats Sheet, you can subscribe for $5/month or $50/year, down below:
NASCAR Cup Series - GEICO 500 at Talladega - Top-10 Finishers:
#8 Kyle Busch - Richard Childress Racing
#12 Ryan Blaney - Team Penske
#17 Chris Buescher - RFK Racing
#14 Chase Briscoe - Stewart-Haas Racing
#6 Brad Keselowski - RFK Racing
#43 Erik Jones - LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
#24 William Byron - Hendrick Motorsports
#20 Christopher Bell - Joe Gibbs Racing
#99 Daniel Suarez - Trackhouse Racing
#36 Todd Gilliland - Front Row Motorsports
NASCAR Xfinity Series - Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega - Top-10 Finishers:
#27 Jeb Burton - Jordan Anderson Racing
#2 Sheldon Creed - Richard Childress Racing
#48 Parker Kligerman - Big Machine Racing
#00 Cole Custer - Stewart-Haas Racing
#6 Brennan Poole - JD Motorsports
#43 Caesar Bacarella - Alpha Prime Racing
#31 Parker Retzlaff - Alpha Prime Racing
#08 Gray Gaulding - SS Greenlight Racing
#35 Joey Gase - Emerling-Gase Motorsports
#92 Josh Williams - DGM Racing
#SrigleyStats Spotlight Driver: Jeb Burton
Photo Credit: Sean Gardner | Getty Images | Courtesy of NASCAR Media
I know it looks like I’ve made a really easy decision this weekend making Jeb Burton, the winner of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Talladega Superspeedway, the #SrigleyStats Spotlight Driver.
Sure, the victory on Saturday had a major impact on the decision, but what had an even bigger impact was what the Halifax, Virginia native said after climbing from his No. 27 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet Camaro.
The victory itself was significant, the first for Jordan Anderson Racing in what is just the third season of the team’s full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series program, and the first year the team has fielded multiple entries.
When talking about his win, Burton said that his guys at Jordan Anderson Racing have made racing fun for him, once again - and that in itself is important, considering the career he’s had in NASCAR’s top-three series.
Burton has been around NASCAR’s National Series for more than a decade but has never had a real sense of consistency, having still not run a significant schedule for an organization - in any series - for back-to-back years.
Recently, though, he’s seemingly found his ‘place’ in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, having spent the last three years in the second-tier series. But still, Burton was forced to jump from Kaulig Racing (2020) to Our Motorsports (2021) to Jordan Anderson Racing (2022).
Though, things came to a head last year with Our Motorsports, failing to finish a mind-boggling eight times, and scoring a best finish of 11th. Which brought him into the year with a streak of 30-plus races without a top-10.
So, in theory, Saturday’s race at Talladega marked the return to the Jeb Burton we have introduced to a half-decade ago, who made the most of his opportunities in good equipment when he got them.
Already, in nine weeks with Jordan Anderson Racing, Burton has already started to launch what could be a career revival, and while it may not lead him to championships in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, it could lead to him being a driving force in having JAR become a perennial top-five or even victory, contender.
With the team on the rise, a driver seemingly hitting his stride, and a teammate that has shown immense talent out of the gate, it’s possible that both drivers could find themselves inside the top 10 regularly.
For the longest time, Richard Childress Racing has ruled single-car qualifying for the superspeedway events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. However, since Austin Hill came into the second-tier series, he’s been the king of the superspeedway.
Winning the pole for Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega, Austin Hill became only the third driver in series history to score three consecutive superspeedway poles, joining Joe Nemechek and JJ Yeley.
This weekend at Talladega, qualifying seemed to be the source of all the #SrigleyStats, a trend that continued in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday. Earning a ninth-place starting spot, Kyle Larson was the quickest Chevrolet in qualifying, despite the manufacturer being usually quick.
This qualifying effort marked the first time since July 1991 at Daytona International Speedway that Chevrolet failed to have a NASCAR Cup Series entry qualify inside the top eight on a superspeedway at NASCAR’s top level.