It has not been the easiest times for Harrison Burton, but he’s head down and focused on the task at hand. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
LEBANON, Tenn. – Without a doubt, Harrison Burton has dealt with stormy times during his sophomore season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
It has not been for a lack of effort, by any means, for the 22-year-old Huntersville, North Carolina native. If anything, Burton has given it an earnest effort through the first 16 races of the season.
For starters, Burton has three top 15 results and six top 20 finishes. Then again, in the high stakes game of Cup competition, decent finishes do not reward a lot of points along with frustrating results, especially with the ones not of his doing.
Entering Sunday’s 300-lap race at Nashville Superspeedway, Burton ranks 29th and in search of his first top five finish of the year. Certainly, the driver of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang knows what it takes to compete at stock car’s premier division as evident by his sixth place result in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
Then again, there have been those moments where Burton and his team are either competitive or facing a steep, uphill battle to salvage the best possible results. Most recently, Burton clawed his way to an 18th place result in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte before placing 23rd at Gateway and 27th at Sonoma.
| Race No. | Venue | Start Pos | Finish Pos | Points | Rank |
| 1 | Daytona | 19 | 26 | 11 | 25 |
| 2 | Fontana | 24 | 15 | 22 | 19 |
| 3 | Las Vegas | 35 | 26 | 11 | 23 |
| 4 | Phoenix | 27 | 35 | 2 | 28 |
| 5 | Atlanta | 33 | 34 | 3 | 32 |
| 6 | Austin | 16 | 22 | 15 | 30 |
| 7 | Richmond | 26 | 19 | 18 | 31 |
| 8 | Bristol Dirt | 20 | 15 | 22 | 29 |
| 9 | Martinsville | 32 | 29 | 8 | 30 |
| 10 | Talladega | 25 | 36 | 7 | 30 |
| 11 | Dover | 31 | 20 | 17 | 30 |
| 12 | Kansas | 25 | 30 | 7 | 31 |
| 13 | Darlington | 14 | 6 | 31 | 30 |
| 14 | Charlotte | 13 | 18 | 19 | 29 |
| 15 | Gateway | 14 | 23 | 14 | 27 |
| 16 | Sonoma | 36 | 27 | 10 | 29 |
Last year, Burton ranked 28th in the points standings heading into his first Cup start at Nashville Superspeedway. Similarly, he was sequestered in no man’s land, placing 25th at the 1.333-mile concrete track.
Unlike his rookie season, Burton has the savvy and experience to extract the maximum out of his car. The biggest area of opportunity for the Wood Brothers Racing driver is qualifying as evident with a 31st place starting position for Sunday night’s race at Nashville.
Then again, considering how the Cup race at Nashville will start around dusk and conclude at night, it may give some opportunities to work on the pace and handling of Burton’s Ford Mustang like at the 600-miler at Charlotte.
Although Burton has a long ways to go to the front of the field, anything is possible at Nashville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
“I like Nashville,” Burton said in an OEM press release. “It’s a cool city and the fans are always excited. It’s been a fun racetrack for us with lots of lane choices. I remember (Chase) Briscoe and us raced side-by-side for 30 laps in one stint last year and it was really frustrating back then, but looking back on it that’s normally the sign of a good track where you can race side-by-side and battle each other and have some fun.
“I feel like those kinds of races, where you can fan out, put on good shows for the Next Gen car and I expect that to be the same this coming week.”
Much like his father, Jeff, the younger Burton thrives at races where the driver plays a critical role with getting the car right during longer races. Likewise, Burton’s father knew how to pick off positions like a skilled baseball player excelling at stealing bases.
Suffice to say, Burton hopes his misfortunes disappear in these final 10 regular season races. In more ways than 21, the North Carolinian can easily turn his season around with a victory for himself and his storied team.
After all, if he can win a race between this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway to late August’s Daytona International Speedway cutoff event, he can bring the Wood Brothers Racing team back into the Playoffs for the first time since 2020 when Matt DiBenedetto pulled a late rally to make the 16 driver title fight.
For now, Burton pursues his first career victory in the Cup ranks, hoping to be a winner much like his father, Jeff, and his uncle, Ward.
All things considered, Burton may have some decent chances starting with Sunday night’s race along with the Chicago Street Course race on July 2, the Atlanta night race on July 9, the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Aug. 13, Watkins Glen on Aug. 20 and the 400-miler at Daytona on Aug. 26.
Given Burton’s versatility on technical road courses and adept superspeedway abilities, it may not be totally out of the question to see the young racer earn his way into the postseason hunt while achieving the Wood Brothers Racing team’s 100th NASCAR Cup Series win.
