Jeb Burton

John Edward "Jeb" Burton IV (born in Halifax, Virginia on August 6, 1992), is an American stock car racing driver. A competitior in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series for ThorSport Racing, he is the son of Ward Burton and the nephew of Jeff Burton. Burton competed for several seasons as a regular driver at South Boston Speedway, an American racing circuit that his family has historically been known for competing at, as well as at Ace Speedway.

Personal life

One of three children of Ward and Tabitha Burton,^[1] Burton is a native of Halifax County in south-central Virginia, Burton was educated at Halifax County High School, from which he graduated in 2011.^[2] Following in the footsteps of his father, in addition to his racing career, Burton is an avid outdoorsman and hunter.^[3]

Early career

Burton started his professional racing career in the NASCAR-sanctioned Whelen All-American Series, in which drivers at local tracks compete for track championships as well as against drivers competing at other tracks for national titles, at South Boston Speedway shortly after his 16th birthday. He made his first start at the track, in the Limited Sportsman Series, in 2008, with his first full season of competition at the track coming in 2009;^[4] the 2009 season also saw Burton's best finish in the track's season-ending points standings, finishing 4th in the Limited Sportsman Series. Burton moved up to the track's Late Model Series in 2010, finishing 11th in the final standings, in addition to winning the track's Late Model Rookie of the Year award;^[5] he also competed in Late Models during the 2011 racing season.^[6]

In addition to competing at South Boston Speedway, where both his father and uncle made a name for themselves in their early racing careers,^[4] but where Burton, by his own admission, "struggled",^[7] Burton competed regularly at Ace Speedway, Orange County Speedway, and other racing circuits in the southern Virginia and central North Carolina areas,^[8] including at the "Daytona of Late Models", Martinsville Speedway.^[9] Burton's first Late Model win came at Ace Speedway in June 2011;^[2] he won a total of five races in Late Model competition over the course of the season at various tracks in the region.^[10]

Sports cars

In April 2009, Burton was selected as a "guest driver" to compete in the Sports Car Club of America's SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series, competing on the road course at Virginia International Raceway. Burton's guest driver status left him ineligible for series points, or for winning any prize money in the event.^[11] Burton was able to qualify his vehicle, sponsored by State Water Heaters and the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, in the 9th position on the event's starting grid, but finished the race in 22nd; his run was marred by an on-track accident with another driver that knocked him out of competition.^[12]

ARCA and NASCAR

Burton's 2012 truck at Rockingham Speedway

Burton's 2013 truck at Rockingham

By 2011 Burton was considered to be a rising star in the world of stock car racing.^[7] In July of that year, Burton made his debut in big-league, touring-series stock car competition, driving the No. 6 Toyota Camry for Eddie Sharp Racing in the ARCA Racing Series' Hantz Group 200 at Berlin Raceway. Burton started 9th and finished 21st in the 200-lap, 100-mile (160 km) event;^[13] he was involved in a multi-car accident on the opening lap of the race,^[14] but rallied to complete 120 of the race's 200 laps before being forced out of competition with suspension failure.^[15] Ward Burton stated that he was attempting to secure a sponsor for his son to compete in the full ARCA Racing Series season,^[16] however no deal was reached and it was the only ARCA event he would compete in during the year.^[17]

Later in the 2011 racing season, during competition in the Whelen All-American Series, Burton was briefly suspended by NASCAR, and was fined $250 USD, following an on-track incident in a heat race at South Boston Speedway.^[18] He was penalized for throwing a traffic cone at another competitor's vehicle following an accident; his father, also involved in the incident by entering the other driver's pit stall during the event, was placed on probation.^[19]

After the 2011 season, Burton desired to move up to full-time competition in a national series.^[7] In January 2012, it was announced that Burton would be competing for Hillman Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during the 2012 racing season, sharing a ride in the No. 27 truck, a Chevrolet, with his father Ward.^[20] Due to his lack of experience on large tracks, Burton was ineligible to compete at Daytona International Speedway in the series' season-opening event;^[10] He made his debut in the series at Martinsville Speedway in the second race of the season; Trip Bruce served as the team's crew chief.^[21]

In his first series race at Martinsville Speedway, Burton, competing for Rookie of the Year in the series, finished 13th, on the lead lap.^[22] After the sixth race of the season at Dover International Speedway, however, Burton was forced to start skipping races due to a lack of sponsorship.^[23]

In September 2012, Burton debuted in the Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series, winning his first start in the series at Motor Mile Speedway.^[24]

2013-2014

On November 21, 2012, Turner Motorsports announced the signing of Burton to a two-year contract to run a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule and a limited NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule in 2013 and 2014. Turner also announced that Burton's father, Ward Burton, had been hired to assist with driver development.^[25]

In April 2013, Burton won his first Truck Series pole at Martinsville Speedway.^[26] On June 7, 2013, Burton won the WinStar World Casino 400K at Texas Motor Speedway, his first career NASCAR win.^[27] Later in the season he made his first career start in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September,^[28] and his Nationwide Series debut at Kentucky Speedway later in the month.^[29]

The 2013 season was a success for Burton, as he finished fifth in the overall Camping World Truck Series standings. He totaled 731 points to finish 73 points behind winner Matt Crafton and just one point out of fourth place. In 22 starts, he totaled one win, captured seven pole positions, and had five top 5's and 11 top 10's with only one DNF.^[30][31]

Before the start of the 2014 season, Turner Scott Motorsports announced that Burton's sponsor, Arrowhead Cigarettes, had defaulted on its payments, and that they had been forced to close the No. 4 team, leaving Burton without a ride.^[32] In early February Burton announced that he had signed with ThorSport Racing to compete in the season-opening Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series events at Daytona International Speedway, with additional races for the team dependent on sponsorship.^[33]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

Camping World Truck Series

^* Season in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

References

External links

• Official website
• Jeb Burton driver statistics at Racing Reference
• Jeb Burton at Driver Database