NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: World of Westgate 200 (Race 19 of 23), 134 Laps – 30/30/74; 201 Miles
Location: Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile, tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: Sept. 13, 2019 at 9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Beat on Burton:
- Harrison Burton and the Safelite AutoGlass team will be looking to change their luck this week as the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Burton was running third with two laps to go when his engine expired in the series’ last stop at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. and he ended up with a 23rd-place finish. Prior to that Burton had a shock fixture break early in the race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and after spending several laps on pit road for repairs, finished 23rd.
- Burton earned his first top-five finish on a mile-and-a-half track earlier this season in his first start in any series at Las Vegas. He qualified a season-best tying third and went on to finish the race in the fifth position. The talented teenager has posted four top-five and six top-10 finishes across eight starts on 1.5-mile tracks in Gander Trucks action this season. The last time the Truck Series was on a mile-and-a-half circuit, he matched his career-best finish when he scored a third-place result at Kentucky Speedway. He will be piloting the same Tundra, KBM-50, that he raced at Kentucky Speedway, this Friday night at Las Vegas. KBM-50 was victorious with Kyle Busch in March of 2018 at Las Vegas.
- 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 12.1 across 18 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 33 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. Hillman Jr has been atop the pit box for two victories at Las Vegas; last March with KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch and in 2005 with Bodine. His drivers have produced seven top-five and eight top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.2 across 12 starts in the Sin City.
- 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. On behalf of Safelite, Burton will be visiting kids at the James Boys and Girls Club in North Las Vegas Thursday afternoon form 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. PT.
Harrison Burton, Driver Q&A
Are you excited to be going back to a track that you’ve already raced at this year?
“With having more and more mile-and-a-half experience it should be a lot of fun to go and give it another shot. It’s a fun racetrack with multiple grooves, so you are going to see good racing there. This is one of the first mile-and-a-half races that I get to go back to, there is not a lot out there that I’ve raced and gone back to, so I’m excited to try and go for that trophy.”
Do you enjoy going to Las Vegas?
“I love going to Vegas — it’s a fun time. Even though I’m not 21 and not able to do all the fun stuff like everyone else is going to do, I still enjoy going and seeing the city. The main thing I enjoy there is the racetrack. Going to race at a big venue like that is pretty cool for the drivers.”
Harrison Burton Career Highlights
- Across 33 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 11.2.
- 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-50: The Safelite AutoGlass team will unload KBM-50 for Friday night’s World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Burton qualified sixth and finished third at Kentucky Speedway in the Tundra’s first race of 2019. KBM-50 made four appearances in 2018, including a win with Kyle Busch in its debut at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway last March.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected three wins (Erik Jones 2014, Kyle Busch 2018 and 2019), three poles (Kyle Busch 2018, Noah Gragson 2018), eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. They have earned a collective average start of 8.5 and average finish of 12.4 and have led 418 laps.
- 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.
