NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: SpeedyCash.com 400, Race 9 of 23, 167 Laps – 40/40/87; 250.5 Miles
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 7, 2019 at 9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Beat on Burton:
- Harrison Burton and the Safelite AutoGlass team head to Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in Fort Worth for Friday’s SpeedyCash.com 400. It will be Burton’s third time tackling the high-speed quad-oval in the Lone Star State. He qualified eighth and finished sixth in the first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series mile-and-a-half start of his career last November. He qualified 10th for the March race at TMS, but was relegated to a 31st-place finish after a lap-12 accident.
- Across eight NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series starts this season, the 18-year-old has posted two top-five and four top-10 finishes while recording an average starting position of 6.6 and average finish of 12.1. He qualified fourth and finished 11th at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in the series’ most recent stop.
- With eight of 16 races completed in the Gander Trucks regular season, Burton sits ninth in the championship standings, one point behind his Kyle Busch Motorsports’ (KBM) teammate Todd Gilliland for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs. The talented teenager has earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award in five of the first eight events this season and currently leads the Rookie of the Year standings by 33 points over Sheldon Creed.
- Veteran crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. and the No. 51 team that worked with Burton for his eight-race schedule in 2018 have moved over to guide the 18-year-old’s rookie campaign in the No. 18 Tundra this year. Hillman Jr. is a two-time champion crew chief in the 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. Burton has produced one pole, six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of. 9.2 in 17 starts with Hillman Jr. calling the shots since he joined KBM in October of 2017.
- Hillman Jr.’s drivers have posted six wins, 10 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 11.2 across 24 starts at Texas. His first five wins in the Lone Star State came with Bodine at the wheel, but his most recent win came in June of 2013 with Jeb Burton, Harrison’s cousin, driving.
- 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 NGOTS schedule in 2019.
Harrison Burton, Driver Q&A
Will having races the next four weeks be beneficial to you?
“For sure — especially as a rookie to get in a rhythm a little bit better. I think the more and more we go in the season the stronger that my team will get and the stronger that I’ll get as a driver. So, I’m excited to work my way towards that. I’ve got really strong race tracks for myself coming up. I’ve ran well at Texas in the past, almost won Iowa — I’ve never ran Gateway in a truck, but in an ARCA car I ran well there. So, hopefully we’ll put the Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra where it belongs for this next little stretch, and hopefully get a little extra cash — 50k.”
How do you feel about the opportunity to win some extra money with the Triple Truck Challenge?
“It’s a really cool opportunity to go out and have a chance to race for such a high amount of money. That’s probably the last thing that’s on my mind right now going into that race, but I’m more interested in the points and the championship qualifications that are on the line for winning a race. The $50,000 or hopefully more than $50,000 that is on the line the next three races for us is kind of an afterthought – a really welcome and awesome afterthought that me and my team will enjoy that if we can get it done.”
What will you do with the extra $50,000 if you win this week?
“The first thing I would do is give an even share of it to my guys. An 18-year-old with $50,000 is probably a bad idea. So, I think sharing it with my team is a little bit smarter and they’ll like me a little bit more for it. I’ll do that with it first and then whatever is left of it — I’m not very good at math on the spot — I’ll probably just put it in the old bank account and save it for later and wait for the next race and try to get some more.”
Harrison Burton Career Highlights
- Across 23 career Gander Trucks starts has collected one pole, 78 laps led, six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.9.
- Has three career ARCA Racing Series victories across 15 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, two poles, 142 laps led, 12 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 3.3 across the series’ 14 events.
- 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-59: The Safelite AutoGlass team will unload KBM-59 for Friday’s SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The Tundra qualified third and finished 10th in its debut race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City last month.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected six wins, two poles, 813 laps led, 13 top-five and 28 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.9 across 44 starts in the Lone Star State.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch’s victory in the April race was his third for his organization (2010, 2014 & 2019). Erik Jones earned won in November 2015, William Byron took the checkered flag in June of 2016 and Christopher Bell went to Victory Lane in June of 2017.
- KBM holds the NGOTS records for most career wins (73) 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.
