MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- In his NASCAR National Series debut at Martinsville Speedway, Jeb Burton battled tight handling and an on-track skirmish to power his No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet home in the 13th position at the famed short track. After a strong set of practice sessions, the 19-year-old son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, qualified seventh on Saturday morning.

Showing his maturity early on in the 250-lap race, Burton communicated easily with his crew chief and spotter team, earning kudos from the broadcast booth. After finding his rhythm in the first ten laps, Burton settled into 10th position. Told to manage his tires and back his corners up by crew chief Trip Bruce, Burton relayed to his crew that he was very tight middle and off the corners.

At lap 75 under the race's first caution, Burton got his opportunity to pit and loosen up for the remainder of the race. Gaining seven spots in the process, he emerged in 11th position. Burton went on to navigate through three more cautions, fighting extremely tight conditions in the center and lap traffic to maintain between 14th and 18th positions. At lap 235, he was involved in an unavoidable incident with the No. 14 truck of Brendan Newberry, when the competitor turned and Burton was faced with nowhere to go. A quick pit stop for barebond put him back on track with nine to go - where he eventually took the No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet past the checkers in the 13th position.

"I'm pretty happy with the finish, considering we hit the wall there at the end. I'm really competitive, and I would have liked to have had that top 10 finish - I know our guys set up the truck to get one and we had it in us," said Burton. "I just want to thank my family for getting me here; State Water Heaters for having faith in me to get the job done; the fans for giving me so much support this week in so many different ways - online, calls, texts and Facebook and Twitter. We're pretty confident we can dial in for Rockingham and see where we can go with this program."

Race Info:
March 31st, 2012
Martinsville Speedway
.5-Mile Paved Oval

Kroger 250
250 Laps/131.5 Miles

Fast Facts:
Start: 7th
Finish: 13th

Next Race: Rockingham Speedway, April 14th