“It’s nothing personal”: Jeff Burton’s nephew makes his feelings known about ‘viral’ radio rant

Jeb Burton shared his perspective on his 'viral' radio rant at Phoenix Raceway. In an episode of the Crossroads Podcast, Burton stated the rant about the underwhelming performance of the car wasn’t personal and he only had a competitive mindset.

Burton is a professional stock car racing driver who competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Jordan Anderson Racing. He is former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton's nephew, Ward Burton's son, and Xfinity Series-bound Harrison Burton's cousin.

Per Jeb Burton on X (formerly Twitter), the driver defended himself for calling the car the biggest piece of **** he ever drove, which he ran during the NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway. At the time, he was driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for Team AmeriVet.

“There was a thing that went kind of viral on social media. One of the comments I said on the radio, and I felt like I did a pretty good job not losing my cool on the radio […] I told Mike, I’m reading this quote-for-quote, I said, ‘Mike, this is the biggest piece of **** I’ve ever driven in my life,” Burton ranted.

“I had to let it out,” the driver added. “And Mike said, ‘I know buddy.’ That was his comment. That’s the relationship me and Mike have.”

The driver also talked with team owner William Auchmoody who understood where he was coming from.

“Even the car owner, Willy, when I talked to him today […] He said, ‘I’m glad you said that.’ Because he knows that I have the fire and I’m not content with running around and riding around. It’s nothing personal. It’s just I’m a competitor,” Burton shared.

During the Phoenix Raceway race, Jeb Burton’s No. 50 Chevy caught fire and had to come to the pits prematurely. He only completed 294 laps to finish 38th ahead of Zane Smith and Ty Gibbs, who were both out of the race due to accidents on different occasions.

Jeb Burton drove the No. 50 Chevy in the Cup Series' season finale at Phoenix Raceway - Source: Imagn

For the 2025 season, Jeb Burton still has to announce his racing plans. The latest was when Jordan Anderson Racing took to X and thanked Burton for driving for them, to which Burton thanked the team back.

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Jeff Burton shared the struggle young NASCAR drivers face in Next-Gen era

Jeff Burton, Jeb Burton’s uncle, shared his thoughts on young drivers' struggles in NASCAR. Burton argued teams tend to focus on drivers needing to be better when the racecars need to be better as well, saying those should go hand-in-hand.

Speaking with Kevin Harvick, the 21-time Cup race winner believes the availability of more data to improve in today's time causes teams to look for driver improvement, challenging young drivers.

"There's a danger in the focus being just on the driver being better when the car needs to be better too, because no matter who drives a race car, a faster race car goes faster," Jeff Burton said. [0:24]

Burton claimed drivers only get to have a voice in the team once they have enough race wins under their belt.

“When you win a certain amount of races you have enough clout to get what you need but as you're... as you're working away through this journey. How can you find a way to be integrated into the team in a way that you have a say," Jeff Burton added. [0:57]

"And that it's more than just you trying to be a better race car driver is you trying to help build a better race car and be a better race car driver because the two go hand in hand. And there is no right or wrong way. There's a lot of different ways. If you're a young driver it's hard to take that stand.

While Jeff Burton’s racing days are way over, his son, Harrison Burton, competes in NASCAR. The 24-year-old will head to the Xfinity Series next year after a three-year run with Wood Brothers Racing in the premier series.