NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: Sugarlands Shine 250 (Race 20 of 23), 94 Laps – 20/20/54; 250.04 Miles
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile, tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: Oct. 12, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Beat on Burton:
- Harrison Burton and the Safelite AutoGlass team head to Talladega Superspeedway for Saturday’s Sugarlands Shine 250. It will be Burton’s first start in any series at the 2.66-mile tri-oval and just his third start on a superspeedway. The 18-year-old made two superspeedway starts in February at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway; winning the ARCA Racing Series event and finishing 18th in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race. In the Gander Trucks event, the talented teenager was running inside the top five with just over 10 laps to go before getting caught up in an accident and being relegated to an 18th-place finish.
- The second-generation driver has posted seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes while recording an average starting position of 7.6 and an average finish of 11.9 across 19 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 34 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 Talladega, with Bodine in 2007 and 2008, and also has earned two poles, 2007 with Bodine and last year with David Gilliland. His drivers have produced six top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 7.8 across 10 starts at the Alabama track.
- 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.
Harrison Burton, Driver Q&A
Are you looking forward to your first race at Talladega?
“I’m excited for Talladega — it’s one of the most famous race tracks in NASCAR, it’s got a lot of history, a lot of cool races and there is even a movie about it. With limited plate experience — I’m going in there a little bit blind. I’ve never raced at Talladega and I’ve only ran two restrictor plate races in my whole career, but I’m excited to go out and give it a try at Talladega and hopefully get a win for this Safelite AutoGlass team.”
Talk about the mentality you have to employ to be successful at plate racing.
“I think plate races are like a really fast-paced game of chess. To plan your moves, you have to think 10 steps ahead of what you are doing now to be good at it. You have to be really aggressive, but still survive until the end of the race. Some of the best plate racers are the most aggressive ones. I think that you have to go into that race track that you have to make it yours and you have to own it and then from there you’ll see what you’ve got.”
Does not having to worry about points racing allow you to be more aggressive at Talladega?
“If you are not in the playoffs, you kind of don’t have anything to lose at Talladega – it’s either win or going home knowing that you tried. I think that Talladega will be good for us because we can be really aggressive and risky and people that are in the playoffs might not want to be as risky and aggressive, so maybe we can take advantage of that.”
Harrison Burton Career Highlights
- Across 34 career Gander Trucks starts has collected one pole,88 laps led, 11 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 11.1.
- Has one top-five and three top-10 finishes in six 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-26: The Safelite AutoGlass team will unload KBM-26 for Saturday’s at Talladega Superspeedway. Burton qualified fourth and was running inside the top five with just over 10 laps to go before getting caught up in an accident and being relegated to an 18th-place finish in the Gander Trucks season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. David Gilliland sat on the pole and finished third with KBM-26 at Talladega last October.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected one win, two poles, 53 laps led, five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 11.3 across 22 starts at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch collected KBM’s lone victory in the 2010 event when he finished 0.002 seconds ahead of Aric Almirola in the closest finish in Truck Series history since electronic scoring was instituted.
- 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.
