Harrison Burton understands the grind of the heavy duty Nascar schedule.
It’s no secret that Burton, the son of former racer and current Nascar on NBC analyst Jeff Burton, is a workhorse. Those who have followed the younger Burton since he started racing on local short tracks in North Carolina always knew his hard work would pay dividends.
Last month, Wood Brothers Racing announced Burton will take over the famed No. 21 Ford Mustang in the Nascar Cup Series starting in 2022. The bold free agency move for the soon-to-be rookie brings him away from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, which has supported him since 2015, where there are no current seats available in the Cup Series.
“It all started when I got a meeting with the Wood’s, Mr. [Roger] Penske and his group,” Burton said. “Just them calling and asking if I could meet them was surprising. I went there and felt like I was myself, and I was honest. I guess that worked out well and I got the job.”
But when Burton was offered the job, it didn’t come as a surprise. The conversation went so well, he explained, that he knew it would be a perfect fit right away.
The switch immerses Burton into a new stage of his career.
Burton, though, felt like it was time to make the jump to the Cup Series after one and a half seasons of fulltime racing in the Xfinity Series. His partnership with Dex Imaging enables him to bring some funding to the Wood Brothers, which will continue its alliance with Team Penske. For the past four seasons, it’s sponsored Ryan Blaney in some capacity and also works with Penske’s NTT IndyCar Series team.
Additionally, longtime Wood Brothers Racing sponsors Motorcraft and Quick Lane will continue to back the No. 21 team.
“To be considered for it was the biggest surprise, not because I don’t believe I’m not good enough to do it, but because it wasn’t even on my radar,” he said. “I was focused on Xfinity Series racing and it’s just past halfway in the season. To have a job for next year already is awesome. Here I am with a deal done already. It’s exciting and it shows the faith the people at Wood Brothers, Penske and Ford have in me as a driver.”
Since jumping to the Xfinity Series, Burton has four wins on his resume. He never won in the Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports, despite being in arguably the best equipment in the series. His jump to Nascar’s second-tier division paid off with a fifth-place finish in the 2020 standings.
With the Next Gen car hitting the track starting with the 2022 Daytona 500, Burton believes it is the perfect time to be a Cup rookie. However, he is being modest when it comes to expectations.
“My goal is to be recognized for hard work within the organization, which is full of hard workers,” Burton said. “That’s all I can look at right now. I know I can control one thing, and that’s the amount of effort I put into it. I want to give the impression that I am working as hard as I am. I need to put in the work necessary to be great against great people. The rest will take care of itself.”
Burton could have opted to stay in the Xfinity Series for another season with Gibbs, but this was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. After Burton made his Cup Series debut with Gaunt Brothers Racing at Talladega Superspeedway, he understood this is his calling, just like it was for his father.
To get here, he truly appreciates how Dex Imaging, which also sponsors Team Penske, has backed him since he was a teenager.
“It’s been a lot of the same people, whether it’s Dex or Toyota, since I was 12 or 13,” he said. “Toyota, I started working with them when I was 13. It’s become like family more than anything. Ford is going to be that way next year. It’s been easy. The people I’m around make it easy for me to be the best racecar driver that I can be.
“I have great support from companies, and that lets me go out and attack my job. All of the awesome old-school Wood Brothers sponsors will be there. That’s a major load off of the team, having to search for other sponsors. It’ll be interesting to see. Dex has had my back for a long time, and I don’t foresee that changing.”
"wood" - Google News
August 16, 2021 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/3CV4b8a
Harrison Burton Is Ready To Tackle The Nascar Cup Series With Wood Brothers Racing - Forbes
"wood" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3du6D7I
No comments:
Post a Comment