Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed to Richmond Raceway with the confidence that comes from a strong run in the pre-season Clash at the Coliseum and a good run last Sunday at Circuit of the Americas.
In the Clash, held on a temporary track inside the Los Angeles Coliseum, Burton raced his way into the main event with some strong moves in the 50-lap Last Chance race then drove from 22nd to 12th in the 150-lap main event. At COTA, he scored points in both Stages, then moved up to 17that the finish due to some aggressive driving in the Overtime run to the checkered flag.
“For Richmond we’ll try to build off the competitive run we had at the Clash and our teammates strong notes from Phoenix,” crew chief Brian Wilson said. “I loved the fight and aggressiveness we saw from Harrison in COTA. I think that’s exactly the mindset we’ll need for the next two weeks at Richmond and Martinsville.”
Wilson said he believes the three-quarter-mile oval at Richmond, and the paper-clip-shaped half-mile at Martinsville, where Burton won an Xfinity Series race in the fall of 2020, will give the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team a chance to move up in the points standings.
“We had our best points day of the year this past weekend, and we need to have several solid points days in the following months,” Wilson said. “But it definitely feels like things are headed in the right direction after last week.”
Wilson added that he and Burton are accumulating data that will help them as the season rolls along.
“As we continue to build our notebook it’s great that we’ve now been to all the main track styles now,” he said. “We should be able to build off our notes to continue giving Harrison the car that he needs to continue improving.”
Cup Series practice is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time followed by qualifying at 11:15. Sunday’s 400-lap race is scheduled to start just after 3:30 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX. Stage breaks are set for Laps 70 and 230.
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