Jeb Burton rose to the top as he claimed victory at Talladega while rain flooded the 2.66-mile track. It would be his first win in his Xfinity Series career.
“We ran up front all day, definitely wasn’t a fluke,” Burton stated.
“The guys did a great job with our No. 10 LS Tractor car. We led a lot of laps and it was a blast to drive.”
Jeb Burton had led 21 laps in the event to get his first series win. It marks the second win for Kaulig Racing this season.
Stage 1: Laps 1-25
Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric led the field down for the green flag. Hemric would get a shove from Noah Gragson to launch out ahead, but Cindric would fight back toward the inside as Hemric would lead the opening lap.
Though the primary goal was to contend for the win, it also was a race for others drivers racing in the Dash 4 Cash. Josh Berry, Brandon Jones, Hemric, and Gragson were the contenders all trying to gather that bonus.
As the laps progressed throughout the first stage, a majority of the field would migrate to the outside line of the track.
With nine laps to go in the stage, Gragson would try and pounce for the lead. With help from the other Chevys, they would be side by side with Hemric for several laps.
Cindric would make an aggressive move to the bottom underneath Hemric on the frontstretch, swiftly passing the No. 18 with six laps to go in the stage. Cindric’s No. 22 would put multiple blocks on Hemric and Gragson as he would try and maintain the lead.
As four laps remained in the stage, Harrison Burton would start to surge upwards toward the pack, as his No. 20 would surge through the middle line past teammate Hemric. The Offerpad Toyota would file back behind Cindric as Gragson led.
Haley took the lead away from Gragson on the last lap of the stage, while teammate AJ Allmendinger would have a scary moment off of Turn 2 as he saved his Chevy. Haley’s No. 11 would take the stage win over Jeb Burton. Gragson, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Allmendinger, Hemric, Jones, Brandon Brown, and Justin Allgaier would round out the top 10 to take stage points.
During the stage break, Burton won the race off pit road, with a two-tire stop. Many would follow suit, while some would take four tires. One of the main people that took four was Gragson.
Stage 2: Laps 29-50
Jeb Burton would lead coming to the restart with teammate Haley on his outside. The Kaulig cars would move toward the top while Myatt Snider would try and make it three-wide. However, Snider’s No. 2 would lose several spots as he would be left out to dry.
Cindric would take over the race lead over Jeb Burton. The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers would follow right behind the No. 22.
Jeb Burton would ignite the inside line as he would challenge for the lead with nine laps to go in the second stage. Ty Dillon would make it a three-wide battle for the lead as both lines would try and swarm Cindric.
Haley made a move to the outside of Cindric, and with help from teammate Jeb Burton, it would put the No. 11 dead even with Cindric as they would be side by side for the lead. Jeb Burton would be stuck on the middle line, as teammate Allmendinger would pass by on the high side.
The trio of Kaulig cars would try and make a move on Cindric, but the defending champion would place several successful blocks. It would give way for the JR Motorsports cars of Gragson and Allgaier to pounce.
Gragson had a run on the high side off of Turn 2 and transfer it throughout the backstretch. He and Cindric would go at it, with Gragson claiming the Stage 2 win. Teammate Allgaier would be in the second spot, with Cindric, Jones, and Dillon rounding out the Top 5. Snider, Hemric, Brett Moffitt, Michael Annett and Brown rounded out the Top 10.
On the stage break, Gragson won the race off of pit road, with a two-tire stop. Many would also go with the two-tire strategy as they prepped themselves for the final stage.
Final Stage: Laps 56-113
Gragson and Snider would lead the field for the final stage. Snider would have momentum on the outside and would clear Gragson and hold off Jones for the lead.
On Lap 58, Cindric would make a pass to the inside of Snider in Turn 3, and the No. 22 would rocket to the front. As Cindric went to the top, the main pack would follow in suit.
With 45 laps to go, pit stops would begin. Berry, Cindric, and many others would bring their cars down pit road for a fuel-only stop. A lap later the rest of the leaders would come down pit road. Jeffery Earnhardt would spin coming in, but no caution would fly.
There was trouble on the race track as Berry would bring out the third caution. The No. 8 would lose a right rear tire in the middle of Turn 3, sending the No. 8 for a spin.
Harrison Burton, as a result of pit stops, would cycle as the race leader over Cindric as he led the field to the restart with 35 laps to go. Cindric would try and side draft the No. 20, but with the help of Jeb Burton it would put Harrison Burton ahead of the No. 22.
Jeb Burton’s No. 10 would challenge Harrison Burton with 32 to go, and would easily take over the top spot with assistance from teammate Allmendinger. Snider would shuffle up to third, but with a hound of hungry cars behind the TaxSlayer Chevy.
A really close call would occur when Jeb Burton would place a late block on Snider. The two of them would hold onto it, but would cost Snider a load of momentum.
The yellow flew as Annett got hit by Joe Graf off Turn 2, sending the No. 1 into the path of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars of Jones and Dillon. Dillon’s No. 54 would slide up into the path of Jones, sending the Toyotas into the outside wall. There would be a secondary wreck behind them as Caesar Bacarella and Joey Gase would spin around.
Jeb Burton would lead with 24 to go, but weather delayed the restart, and eventually, the red flag would be waved as rain pelted the track. From there NASCAR would announce Jeb Burton as the race winner. Gragson would win the Dash 4 Cash, giving them a monetary bonus for the No. 9.
There were 23 lead changes among 12 different drivers and four cautions throughout the event.
The Xfinity Series heads to Darlington on Saturday, May 8 at 1 PM ET with coverage from FOX Sports 1 and MRN.
Results:
- Jeb Burton – Led 21 laps
- Austin Cindric – Led 24 laps
- AJ Allmendinger
- Riley Herbst
- Ryan Sieg – Led one lap
- Noah Gragson – Stage 2 Winner, led eight laps
- Brandon Brown – Led one lap
- Justin Haley – Stage 1 Winner, led two laps
- Myatt Snider – Led three laps
- Harrison Burton – Led six laps
- Tommy Joe Martins
- Daniel Hemric – Led 18 laps
- Timmy Hill
- Jeremy Clements
- Colin Garrett
- David Starr
- Brett Moffitt
- Jade Buford
- Colby Howard – Led three laps
- Landon Cassill
- Alex Labbe
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Kyle Weatherman
- Natalie Decker
- Matt Mills
- Jesse Little
- Josh Williams
- Mason Massey
- Justin Allgaier
- Ryan Vargas – Led three laps
- Josh Berry
- Michael Annett – two laps down
- Joe Graf Jr. – two laps down
- Gray Gaulding – three laps down
- Ty Dillon – three laps down
- Joey Gase – five laps down
- Brandon Jones – six laps down, OUT, Accident
- Caesar Bacarella – six laps down, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
- Jason White – 39 laps down, led one lap, OUT, Suspension
- Bayley Currey – 56 laps down, OUT, Overheating
