RACE RESULTS:
1. Kyle Busch
12, Jeb Burton, No. 98 Estes Express Lines Ford
Jeb Burton returned to the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Saturday afternoon at the blistering hot Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway. Burton partnered with Estes Express Lines to race the No. 98 Ford owned by Biagi-DenBeste Racing – a winning team this season in the XFINITY Series.
Saturday’s race at the famed Indy track was a part of the Dash4Cash series of races, meaning a one day schedule of qualifying, heat races and then the feature event.
Burton showed little rust and was quickly in racing form on Saturday. He wheeled the Estes Express Lines No. 98 Ford around the flat, 2.5-mile track 15th quick in qualifying. This placed him in the first heat of the day, starting eighth.
During the 20-lap heat race, Burton advanced two positions to finish sixth. The team felt confident going into the 60-lap feature of getting a top finish.
Burton started in Row Six and in the 11th position. Once the green flag dropped on the feature, Burton struggled with a very tight No. 98 Estes Ford Mustang. Falling back to 15th, Crew Chief, Jon Hansen, called for a four-tire pit stop and adjustments during green-flag conditions on Lap 26. When pit stops cycled through, Burton returned to 15th place, but one lap down.
The race ran under green-flag conditions for the first 49 laps which didn’t help the Estes team work on their Ford Mustang. The Lap 49 caution allowed the team to work on the car and take four tires. Burton radioed the Estes Ford was loose at first and then tight at the end of the run. A quick stop for the team gave Burton the 13th spot on the restart. He picked up a spot on the restart putting him in the Lucky Dog spot when the caution came out for a wreck on Lap 54. The caution set up a Green-White-Checkered finish. Starting at the tail end of the field, Burton wasn’t close enough to pick up spots and finished 12th.
“First, I have to thank Estes and this Biagi-DenBeste Racing team for helping me get back to racing today,” said Burton. “We weren’t that bad in qualifying and felt like we had a good heat race. In the feature, we just couldn’t keep all the speed we needed. We were just too tight and didn’t have a lot of time to make adjustments. It’s a quick race. Overall, not that bad. We’ll race again as a team later this year. I’m looking forward to it.”
About Estes Express Lines
Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Estes Express Lines is a leading, full-service freight transportation provider offering a complete range of shipping solutions including LTL, time critical, volume & truckload, global and custom solutions. Founded in 1931 by W.W. Estes and still family-owned, today’s Estes is the largest privately held LTL carrier in the nation. With a network of more than 200 terminals across the country and a global service footprint, Estes has grown into one of the most respected total-solutions providers in the industry.
About Biagi-DenBeste Racing
Biagi-DenBeste Racing is owned by Fred Biagi and Bill DenBeste, with Lori DenBeste serving as President. Though racing is their passion, their careers have been driven by 18 wheels instead of four. Fred Biagi owns Biagi Bros Transportation with his brother Greg in Napa, CA. They started in 1978 as a transportation company but have evolved over the years into full service transportation, warehousing and logistics company offering expert 3PL services to clients across North America. You can find out more www.biagibros.com.
