NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event:
Gander Truck Series 250 (Race 18 of 23), 64 Laps – 20/20/24; 157.37 Miles
Location:
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. (2.459-mile, 10-turn road course)
Date/Broadcast:
Aug. 25, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Beat on Burton:
- The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads north of the border this week to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Bowmanville, Ontario to take on the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course. For Harrison Burton, it will be his second start at the picturesque circuit. He qualified 13th and finished 14th last year in his first Gander Trucks start on a road course. Burton also participated in a two-day test at CTMP prior to last year’s event.
- While he has made just one road course start in NASCAR’s top-three divisions, the second-generation driver made six starts on road courses in the K&N Pro Series East from 2016 to 2018. During his championship season in 2017, Burton finished third at both New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
- Burton will be piloting KBM-X134, which is the chassis that Erik Jones drove to victory in the 2015 event. Noah Gragson qualified second, led a race-high 35 laps and finished ninth with KBM-X134 in last year’s race at CTMP.
- The 18-year-old driver has posted seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes while recording an average starting position of 7.5 and an average finish of 11.5 across 17 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 32 career starts.
- 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. Across 27 starts working together since October of 2017, Hillman Jr. and Burton have posted an average starting position of 8.1 and an average finish of 9.9. Hillman Jr.’s best result across four starts at CTMP was a seventh-place finish with Chase Briscoe in the 2017 event.
- 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.
Harrison Burton, Driver Q&A
Are you looking forward to the lone road course on the Gander Trucks schedule?
“I’m really excited to get to Canada this weekend and make left and right turns in my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra The truck series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has always been an awesome show and I expect that it will be again on Sunday. A lot of fans come out to this race and it’s a great atmosphere — it’s going to be a lot of fun to be a part of it.”
How does Canadian Tire Motorsport Park compare to the other road courses you’ve raced at?
“Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a tough road course because it combines the technicality of a slower course with the speed of a faster one and because of that mistakes can add up quickly there. We just need to go out and be mistake free throughout the race and put our Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra in a position to go for the win late in the race.”
Harrison Burton Career Highlights
- Across 32 career Gander Trucks starts has collected one pole, 88 laps led, 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.9.
- Has one top-five and two top-10 finishes in three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
- Has three career ARCA Racing Series victories across 16 starts, including the 2019 season opener at Daytona.
- Captured the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title after registering a series-high five wins
- Has numerous Super Late Model victories including the 2018 Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway in Kinston, Ala., and the 2017 ARCA/CRA SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Ga.
- Son of former Monster Energy Cup Series driver and current NBC Sports Analyst Jeff Burton.
Harrison Burton’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra:
KBM-X134: The Safelite AutoGlass team will unload X-134 for Sunday’s Gander Trucks event at CTMP. It is the same Tundra that Erik Jones drove to his victory in the 2015 event north of the border. Noah Gragson qualified second, led a race-high 35 laps and finished ninth behind the wheel of X-134 in last year’s event at the 10-turn road course.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected one win, 65 laps led, six top-five and eight top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.6 across 17 starts at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
- Erik Jones captured KBM’s lone victory north of the border in the 2015 event.
- KBM holds the NGOTS records for most career wins (74) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record six Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- The No. 18, the number which was on the first Tundra that went to victory lane for KBM in 2010, has 21 career victories.
