NASCAR O’Reilly at Phoenix: Independent teams show strength

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The top-six finishers in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Phoenix Raceway looked typical but the race told a broader story beyond what the results show.

Independent teams took the fight to heavyweight entries and ran up front throughout the night. Jeremy Clements wheeled his family-owned No. 51 team to the top-five at one point in the night, passing multiple Joe Gibbs Racing cars and Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 88 car in the process.

Ultimately, Clements came away with an 11th-place finish after a tough final restart but independent teams were still well-represented in the top-10.

Jeb Burton brought his No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet to a seventh-place finish on the night after running inside the top-10 for a good chunk of the night. At the checkered flag, he paced teammate Rajah Caruth in the No. 32 car that has finished top-10 in every race so far — and Viking Motorsports’ No. 96 car that missed the first race of the season but has quickly bounced back with Anthony Alfredo.

“It’s just coming from short track racing. It takes away the downforce so it gives these guys a fighting chance is what you’re seeing,” Burton said.

All of the teams took a different path to get to the top-10 on Saturday but they share in their experience Burton summed up.

“People have no idea our little team. We have 30 people for three teams… All these big teams have 600 people,” Burton said. “Everyone has to do their part to make it go round. They’re working 70-hour weeks, including the team owner. These guys are away from their families a lot because they’re dedicated, hard-nosed racers and it’s great to see their hard work pay off.”

JAR is getting additional support from Chevrolet and Richard Childress Racing, including information and notes that is proving valuable this season.

Ultimately, it’s a culmination of a partnership that has been through a lot but formed at the right time.

“Jordan and I have been really good for each other. When I came to the race team, the team was not really running great and my career was not in a great spot either and we went to work and won in our first year, in a car and a team that was not winning caliber. We did that together, growing that to now we come to tracks like these where we’re running top-10,” Burton said.

Like Burton with JAR, Alfredo is seeing Viking Motorsports grow and get the year started well.

Drivers like Alfredo get to see both sides of the coin.

“I feel like we got the ball rolling in the right direction after a rough start to the year. We had an awesome car last week as well, probably should’ve had a top-10 if we hadn’t had a mechanical issue. To come here and have a top-10 finish is something we can build off of,” Alfredo said.

Alfredo will get to run for Hendrick Motorsports in a fill-in effort for Alex Bowman in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix. Like Alfredo, Caruth sees both perspectives — big teams and small teams — and puts the onus on his shoulders to succeed.

“It’s just about holding myself accountable and making sure I’m doing my homework from week to week,” Caruth said.

Caruth will return to JR Motorsports when the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races Saturday, March 14, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Notes on Jeremy Clements

Best career driver rating:

• 129.3 – Road America 2017
• 97.1 – Bristol, August 2019
• 95.3 – Bristol, August 2016
• 93.3 – Pocono, June 2020 (II)
• 89.2 – Phoenix, March 2026
• 83.4 – Talladega, 2016
• 75.3 – New Hampshire 2022
• 76.3 – Daytona, August 2022

10th for most laps in top-15 (170 of 200), 10th-best driver rating (89.2), fourth-most quality passes (49) Saturday at Phoenix.