Jeb Burton Furious After Losing Talladega Win: "We're Gonna Protest!"
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Jeb Burton finished second at Talladega this Saturday as the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver fell short in a photo finish against Jesse Love and confirmed winner Austin Hill. Speaking emotionally after the race, Burton confirmed that his Jordan Anderson Racing team will be protesting.
The Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway came to an end after caution flags flew due to Connor Zilisch crashing on the final lap after contact with Jesse Love. Hitting the inside wall of the backstretch, the race ended with a photo finish and a video review was used to identify the winner.
NASCAR officials confirmed soon after that Austin Hill was ahead at the race end, with his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet beating out Burton and Love, who finished second and third respectively. The margin was 0.001 seconds, reflecting the mere inches between the noses of the cars as the race came to an end.
Speaking with CW Sports following the race, Burton was struggling to understand the decision.
Jeb Burton, driver of the #27 Golden Corral Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama.
Jeb Burton, driver of the #27 Golden Corral Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama."Every angle I keep seeing, we win the race. Just frustrated with that, maybe they can give us a different angle here. I don't know what's so complicated, we're gonna protest, do whatever the hell we can do because I think we won this race," Burton said.
Pointing to the screen while continuing to talk to the media, he said:
"Right there, you can see my nose is in front of the No. 21. I don't know what we're looking at.
"We don't have a lot of chances to win, you know?" Burton continued as he fought through tears. "That's what's frustrating."
The driver confirmed his team will be taking this further: "We're going to protest, if you can protest. Because I think we won this race."
A win at Talladega for the small team he drives for would be substantial. A win here for Burton would have made this his third in 185 Xfinity Series starts.
With another win under his belt, Hill said the following:
"It just seemed like our car was really good. Everyone at RCR and RCR engines are bad to the bone, like always. We had to work. I thought the 2 (Love) was really good and when we got the push from the 2 going into [turn] one, he got inside of me and I thought that was a bad mistake and I should have covered it. So I thought we were done. But I just locked in and kept pushing the heck out of the 2-car.
"I knew it was either me or the 27 [Burton]. Man, to win them — any way you win them is always great — and finally to conquer Talladega, that's something I've really wanted to do for a long time. We've won at all these other superspeedways and to finally get it done at all the different superspeedways we go to, it just shows the 21 team can win at any of them and we're really good at this style of racing."
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