NASCAR: Harrison Burton continues march toward history

By Asher Fair | Jun 14, 2020

Harrison Burton, Joe Gibbs Racing, Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR, Xfinity Series (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Harrison Burton continued his march toward NASCAR Xfinity Series history by stealing a victory late at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton entered Saturday’s Hooters 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on a 10-race streak of top 10 finishes going back to late last season, when he competed in a number of races for Joe Gibbs’s team while he was still competing full-time in the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

The 19-year-old Huntersville, North Carolina native opened up the 2020 season with eight consecutive top 10 finishes, putting him one top 10 finish away from the rookie record set by Carl Edwards to start the 2005 season.

Edwards’s nine-race streak, during which he won a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and posted an average finish of 5.56 driving for Roush Racing, came to an end with a 33rd place finish at Talladega Superspeedway. He entered this race as the leader of the championship standings.

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But Burton has now extended his streak to nine races, tying Edwards’s record, and he has a chance to break it later today.

Yesterday afternoon, in a race dominated by JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson, who started in second place alongside Burton, it was Burton who emerged victorious over Team Penske’s Austin Cindric by 0.179 seconds in second. Gragson, who led 83 of the 167 laps around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida, finished in third.

While Burton started the race from the pole position, he only led the race’s final two laps, the two laps run following the race’s final restart.

Burton lined up in second place on the outside of Gragson on the front row during this restart, but he was able to take the lead away from the driver who saw a 13-second lead evaporate into nothing due to the spin by Ryan Sieg which caused the final caution flag period.

The victory was his second of the season, and his average finish so far this year is a series-best 4.22. He has not finished lower than ninth place this season, and his first victory came at Auto Club Speedway on Leap Day. He sits in third in the championship standings behind Gragson and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe.

Should Burton finish in the top 10 in today’s Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he will own the all-time rookie record streak of top 10 finishes to start a season. He has now competed in two Xfinity Series races at the track. Prior to his win yesterday, he finished in 10th place there in last year’s season finale.

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The Contender Boats 250 is set to be broadcast live from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET this afternoon.

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