Date: June 7, 2019
Event: SpeedyCash.com 400 (Race 9 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Format: Three Stages; 40 laps/40 laps/87 laps
Start/Finish: 11th/5th (Running, completed 167 of 167 laps)
Winner: Greg Biffle of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Toyota)
Harrison Burton battled his way from the 11th starting position to register a fifth-place finish in Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Burton recorded his third top-five finish of 2019 despite having to overcome a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire near the halfway mark of the race and he also sustained minor damage to the left side of his Safelite AutoGlass Tundra in the Final Stage.
Stage One Recap:
- Burton started the 167-lap event from the 11th spot and ran just outside the top 10 for the majority of Stage One as he reported that his Toyota was “free on entry and tight in the center.”
- When the third caution of the night occurred on lap 28, a handful of teams elected to hit pit road, but crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. elected to stay out in an effort to earn some stage points. Burton restarted eighth for the restart with two laps to go in Stage One but got passed by a couple drivers with fresh tires and ended the stage scored in the 10th spot.
Stage Two Recap:
- Hillman Jr. summoned his young driver to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel between stages. With several teams having already pitted, the No. 18 team was scored 20th when Stage Two went green on lap 46.
- Burton catapulted from 20th to 13th in one lap and then made his way into the top 10 on lap 68. He was running 10th when his KBM teammate Todd Gilliland brought out the eight caution of the event on lap 69.
- The race went back green with six laps remaining in the stage. When Tyler Ankrum went spinning towards pit road the next lap, several drivers slowed up thinking that the accident had brought out the caution, but the race remained green and Burton alertly stayed in the gas and wound up in the fourth position.
- He was able to pick up one more spot before the completion of the stage and crossed the stripe third on lap 80.
Final Stage Recap:
- Hillman Jr. ordered up a four-tire and fuel stop with an air pressure adjustment. A tire got away from the pit crew during the stop putting Burton in the 20th position at the tail end of the field for the start of the Final Stage.
- Burton would run just outside the top 10 during the first half of the Final Stage. On lap 97, Burton sustained minor damage to the left side of his Safelite Tundra as part of a six-truck accident.
- When pit road opened, the over-the-wall crew went to working clearing the tire from the fenders, but ultimately decided to put on fresh left-side tires.
- Burton would restart from the 13th spot on lap 103, but by the time the next caution occurred on lap 108 had advanced to 10th.
- A handful of teams elected to pit for the final set of fresh tires, but the No. 18 team remained on the track. The second-generation driver would restart from the sixth spot on lap 112.
- Burton was running in the sixth position on lap 150 as the event’s first long green-flag ensued. Hillman Jr. was just about to summon Burton to pit road for the final time when the 13th and final caution of the night occurred on lap 154.
- The Safelite Tundra hit pit road for fresh right-side tires and fuel and returned to the track scored in the fifth position for the restart with 10 laps remaining.
- Burton advanced to the third position on the restart, but would ultimately end the event in the fifth spot.
Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:
How did your race go tonight?
“We had an up and down night tonight. I kind of buried us not qualifying as well as we should of and then we had to fight back a ton from coming and getting stage points and then falling back to 21st after an uncontrolled tire penalty. A whole bunch of things happened and it was impressive how we fought through it and these boys kept fighting. That was the hardest I’ve ever had to drive for a fifth-place finish. Our Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra was a little bit damaged and it made us really tight at the end, but I was able to hold off the 2 at the end — which was good for playoff points. I think that puts us in eighth, but that doesn’t really matter, we just have to go and win Iowa and then it won’t matter anyway. Excited to go there and hopefully kick butt.”
SpeedyCash.com 400 Recap:
- Burton’s teammate Greg Biffle picked up the win racing in a NASCAR event for the first time since the 2016 Monster Energy Cup Series finale. It was the former Gander Trucks champion’s 17th career series victory and his first since 2001. Matt Crafton finished 0.963 seconds behind Biffle in the runner-up spot. Tyler Ankrum came home third, Grant Enfinger was fourth and Burton rounded out the top-five finishers.
- The race featured 13 cautions for a total of 63 laps. There were 12 lead changes among nine drivers.
How Burton’s KBM Teammates Fared:
- Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished first
- Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished 27th
Gander Trucks Championship Standings:
Burton moved up one position to eighth in the Gander Trucks championship standings. After nine races he finds himself 86 tallies behind points leader Grant Enfinger.
Next Race:
Burton will be back behind the wheel of the No. 18 Morton Buildings Tundra when the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series resumes action June 15 at Iowa Speedway in Newton. Live coverage of the M&M’s 200 begins Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
