TALLADEGA, Ala. — Red in the face, frustrated and teary-eyed, Jeb Burton stormed around Talladega Superspeedway pit road on Saturday (April 26) afternoon after the NASCAR Xfinity Series event.
The Virginian swore to protest the results of the race, one in which the winner was decided by a photo taken of the front pack at the moment of caution.
Upon seeing that image for the first time, Burton felt there wasn’t convincing evidence Austin Hill, not him, was out front when the yellow lights came on.
“That’s a bullshit photo,” Burton told Frontstretch. “How do you know that he’s ahead of me? Where is the timing line? Show me the timing line.
“That doesn’t make it any better.”
Only moments prior, Burton sat inside his Jordan Anderon Racing No. 27 Chevrolet three-abreast with Richard Childress Racing drivers Jesse Love and Austin Hill at the entrance of pit road. Their vehicles sat motionless, the trio anxiously awaiting a final review from the NASCAR control tower as to who had won the 300-mile event.
Inside the car, Burton wasn’t very worried. He was sure he had been ahead at the time of the race-ending caution flag.
“I had the [Love] car here and [Hill] there, and I was ahead of all three of them from my point of view,” Burton said, pointing behind himself on pit road post race. “So, that’s all I can see is across my right front in the racecar, and that’s what I saw.”
So imagine his surprise — and frustration — when it was announced Hill had won.
“I’m just frustrated because we don’t have a ton of opportunities to win,” Burton said. “These are the tracks that we can win at, and our guys did a great job all day and brought us a fast racecar, and we did all we could.”
To his dismay, Burton climbed out of his car to the greeting of his father Ward Burton and team owner Jordan Anderson. Both were comforting him as he gazed at the jumbotron in the Talladega infield, showing the replay of the race. It was supposed to reveal how NASCAR officials had deemed Hill as the winner.
The Virginian was still not convinced.
“I feel like the angles I keep seeing, we won the race,” Burton said. “But maybe there’s a different angle that I haven’t seen. But before we leave here today, I’m definitely going to see proof, because what I keep seeing on the TV screen doesn’t look like we lost.”
The caution in question occurred after the white flag of the 113-lap event when leader Connor Zilisch was hit from behind by Richard Childress Racing driver Love on the backstretch. The No. 88 of Zilisch was sent sailing hard into the inside wall, crunching the front of the car before coming to a sudden stop. Before he did, however, race control put out the caution flag, freezing the field and ending the race.
A replay of the finish at @TALLADEGA.@ConnorZilisch was evaluated and released from the infield care center following the race. pic.twitter.com/wbsDanVy2x
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) April 26, 2025
The driver of the No. 27 was sure he had won, even fist-pumping in the air from his cockpit. Burton appeared to be on the verge of his third race win at Talladega.
The only problem was the leaders were three-wide at the time of the yellow flag. Burton, who was on the bottom of the trio, appeared to be ahead.
.@TheCW_Sports shows the camera angles that NASCAR used to determine the winner of this afternoon's race at @TALLADEGA. pic.twitter.com/ohj2oVsB6D
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) April 26, 2025
However, it was the bottom left corner image that appears to have Hill edging in front, supposedly solidifying the decision of NASCAR officials.
As of Saturday evening, the 32-year-old still plans on protesting the results of the finish. However, it isn’t clear as to what that might look like under the NASCAR rulebook.
Regardless of how it all turns out, there are the official results NASCAR posted to take into question.
As of this writing, it still has Burton listed as the leader of the final lap.
Follow Dalton Hopkins on X @PitLaneCPT
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT