What To Expect out of Jordan Anderson Racing in 2023?

On January 4th, Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport announced that the team would have a larger and fresh new look for the 2023 season by adding a second car, while refreshing the original #31 team.

JAR fielded the #31 Chevrolet for driver Myatt Snider, and crew chief Shane Whitbeck in 2022. The team, which ran a bit under budget all season, had some impressive results scoring one Top 5, four Top 10 finishes, and finishing a respectable 18th in the final standings, but recorded 5 DNF’s. 

The January 4th announcement confirmed that Snider would not be returning for the upcoming season, with JAR announcing journeyman driver Jeb Burton and Xfinity Series rookie Parker Retzlaff would be heading to the team for the new season….but where does this truly put Jordan Anderson Racing amongst an extremely competitive Xfinity Series field?

Often times, smaller teams expanding their operations to another team or multiple new teams, leads to a drop in performance across the board. If done correctly however, such a move can pay huge dividends in the future. Jordan Anderson and his team have a deep history in NASCAR’s “minor leagues” dating back to 2018 in the newly-christened Craftsman Truck Series, while debuting in the Xfinity Series in 2021. 

JAR’s truck series team, which has competed on a part-time basis as recently as 2022, has shown some flashes of speed, with Jordan Anderson himself scoring back-to-back second place finishes at Daytona in 2020 and 2021, while collecting 6 other Top 10 finishes in 95 starts. 

The JAR Xfinity team, with Myatt Snider being the teams first full-time driver in 2022, scored one Top 5 and 4 Top 10’s, establishing the team in the series after 8 different drivers sat behind the wheel in 2021. For 2023, Jeb Burton will be behind the wheel of the newly-formed #27 Chevrolet team, while Parker Retzlaff will assume driving duties of the 31 team. As of this writing, official crew chiefs have not been announced.

Jeb Burton (#27 Chevrolet): Burton, who has been involved in NASCAR’s three major series since 2012, will be bringing a multitude of his sponsors with him to the new #27 team, giving the team some financial stability right away, as well as carrying his familiar number over.

Burton brings some great experience to the team, as he has 57 Truck Series starts, 109 Xfinity Series starts, and 33 Cup Series starts, but struggled mightily in 2022 with Our Motorsports’ #27 team, failing to score any Top 10 finishes. Our Motorsports, which many believe fell victim to expanding too much, too fast last year, no doubt contributed to the drop in performance. 

Preceding the 2022 season, Burton has driven for the likes of Turner Motorsports,  Richard Petty Motorsports, JR Motorsports, and Kaulig Racing. Despite the merry-go-round of teams, Burton has scored 13 Top 5’s and 31 Top 10’s, and recorded a win for Kaulig Racing at Talladega in 2021.  This previous experience makes him a solid choice to build the new #27 JAR team around. While the team will no doubt struggle in the beginning weeks to build chemistry, a Top 20 points finish seems to be an attainable goal considering the equipment JAR puts on the track.

Burton’s #27 Chevrolet will carry sponsorship from Solid Rock Carriers, ALSCO Uniforms, State Water Heaters, Rocky Boots, and Puryear Tank Lines.

Parker Retzlaff (#31 Chevrolet): Retzlaff, while a new-comer to full-time Xfinity Series competition in 2023, got his feet wet in 2022 driving making nine starts, while also making a Truck Series start at Talladega. 

Retzlaff performed very well in his limited starts, making 5 starts for RSS Racing and four for the Our Motorsports #02 Chevrolet team. Aside from a fuel pump issue in his RSS Racing (and Xfinity Series) debut, Retzlaff scored 4 Top 15 finishes, including a 10th at Richmond. Retzlaff did not perform quite as well with a struggling Our Motorsports,  but still scored three 21st place finishes, and a 16th place finish in Homestead. Retzlaff also ran the Truck Series race at Talladega for Young’s Motorsports, where he brought the #20 Chevrolet Silverado home 16th.

With so many consistent finishes under his belt in 2022, along with nine Top 10 finishes in 12 starts in the ARCA Menards Series East Series over two seasons, it makes Retzlaff an ideal candidate for fill the seat of the established #31 team. For 2023, Retzlaff also brings sponsors FUNKAWAY and long-time ARCA Menards Series sponsor Ponsse with him. 

Expectations should be backed down a bit for the talented rookie, but a Top 20 points finish, possibly Top 15 could be a possibility as the season winds down next November.