- Harrison Burton returns to the most familiar circuit for him in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, Martinsville Speedway. Saturday’s 200-lap event will be the 19-year-old driver’s seventh start in NASCAR’s third division at the historic track. He started 16th and finished 22nd in his Gander Trucks debut at the paper-clip shaped oval shortly after turning 16 in October of 2016. Since then, he has registered an average finish of 8.8 across his last five starts at the Virginia track, with a best result of fourth in the fall of 2017.
- The second-generation driver has posted seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes while recording an average starting position of 7.3 and an average finish of 11.8 across 20 Gander Truck Series starts this season. Burton finished the regular season sixth in the point standings, but did not qualify for the playoffs because four drivers behind him in points collected a victory. The North Carolina native has posted a Gander Trucks career-best third-place finish six times across his 35 career starts, including four times with the chassis he will be racing on Saturday, KBM-35.
- Burton’s crew chief, Mike Hillman Jr., is a two-time champion atop the pit box in the Gander Truck Series. He guided Todd Bodine to Toyota’s first-ever National Series title in 2006 and the duo won the championship again in 2010. Hillman Jr.’s drivers have posted one pole, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.0 across 24 starts at Martinsville. He earned a runner-up finish with Bodine twice; in the spring of 2007 and the fall of 2009.
- Voting for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series started last week. To cast your vote for Burton, go to www.nascar.com/ganderoutdoorsmostpopulardriver Follow #VoteHarrisonMPD
- Safelite AutoGlass, the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services, will adorn the hood of Burton’s Tundra for 19 of the 23 events on the Gander Trucks schedule in 2019.
How does Martinsville compare to other short tracks on the schedule?“Martinsville is completely different than almost every other short track on the schedule and honestly almost every other short track you go to. It’s really flat and the straightaways are long compared to how tight the corners are. You go from asphalt to concrete in the middle of the corners. There are times when the diamond line — where you run up to the middle and then back to the bottom — comes in. So, there is a lot of different things you kind of have to keep in the back of your head there. On top of that, you have guys beating your back bumper in and you’re beating the guy in front of you’s back bumper in. It’s a crazy race, full of action and a lot of fun. Hopefully, our Safelite team can go out there and come home victorious.”
Do you feel that the fall race will be more intense because it’s part of the playoffs?“I think so. I think any race in the playoffs is a little bit more intense. It’s a good thing — it’s good action and good fun for the drivers and good action for the fans to watch. That’s the main thing, as long as it’s aggressive, but not too aggressive where everyone is wrecking each other, then I think it should be a really good race.”
KBM PR
