Jeb Burton, son of former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, will compete full time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series this season for Richard Petty Motorsports, according to a team release.
Burton, 23, will pilot the No. 43 Ford for the organization. RPM also fields a pair of entries in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, the No. 43 with driver Aric Almirola and the No. 44 with Brian Scott.
Burton competed last season in the Sprint Cup Series, making 28 starts for BK Racing. He has only two previous XFINITY Series starts along with 50 starts in the Camping World Truck Series.
"When you think NASCAR, you think Richard Petty, and I'm really looking forward to continuing their winning tradition and contributing to the legacy that is Richard Petty," Burton said.
Veteran Drew Blickensderfer will handle crew chief duties for the team. Blickensderfer, a former Sprint Cup crew chief, worked with former RPM drivers Marcos Ambrose and Sam Hornish Jr. He was crew chief for Matt Kenseth in 2009 at Roush Fenway Racing when that team opened the season with back-to-back wins in the Daytona 500 and Auto Club 500. A third win came in 2011 with driver David Ragan, in July at Daytona.
Burton's father Ward won five times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and finished in the top 10 in points twice. Jeff Burton, Jeb’s uncle, is also a former winner in the series and currently serves as a race analyst for NBC Sports.
"We have worked with Jeb on a few opportunities over the past couple of years, and they just didn't fall into place," Brian Moffitt, Chief Executive Officer at Richard Petty Motorsports, said. "We feel Jeb is an extremely talented young driver, and I'm happy we have him in our organization.
"He's proven he can win races and compete at a high level in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and we believe he can do the same in the NASCAR XFINITY Series."