Harrison Burton motivated to maximize Xfinity Series return
As Harrison Burton explains, when a race car driver gets the opportunity to jump to the NASCAR Cup Series, they take the risk because that chance might not come again.
For the last three seasons, Burton experienced the waves of emotions that come with being a Cup competitor. The pinnacle was scoring Wood Brothers Racing's 100th victory last summer at Daytona International Speedway. The pit was having an average finishing position south of 24th in a Team Penske-affiliated ride.
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Burton doesn't regret moving to Cup at 21 years old. He knew it would have its peaks and valleys.
'It was frustrating and not what I wanted it to be,' Burton told NASCAR.com. 'I made great, lifelong friendships and got a lot of good out of it. Got to be a much better race car driver from it. It just didn't go as well as it needed to soon enough.'
Now, Burton is back in the Xfinity Series with AM Racing and trying to work his way back up to the Cup ranks. He's off to a fast start early in the season, being the only Xfinity driver to have consecutive top-10 finishes to start 2025. Burton sits sixth in the standings.
'I'm really motivated. I know that I can do it; I know I can be a Cup driver,' Burton said. 'That's still my goal. I've got to rework my way up there, get an opportunity and go take advantage of it.'
Having been around racing since he was born and watching his father Jeff Burton have success, Burton knows the demands it takes to be a high-level driver. However, he didn't realize how much of a challenge it would be jumping from Xfinity to Cup.
And when the results aren't there, it weighs on drivers. Burton had six top-10 finishes in 108 starts as a full-time Cup competitor.
'It's hard because drivers are egomaniacs,' Burton said. 'You want to be the fastest guy, walk in with your chest poked out. When that doesn't happen immediately, it's easy to let doubts creep into your head. For me, as time progressed, I got better about that and got more confident. It took some time for me to get there and feel like I belonged. Winning helped with that feeling, and I think it will carry into this season with AM Racing.'
When AM Racing got wind that Burton would be a free agent for 2025, Wade Moore, president of AM, reached out directly to Jon Wood, president and co-owner of the Wood Brothers. Having been a tire carrier for years in the Penske pipeline, Moore had a relationship with Wood as he helped deliver the team its 99th victory in 2017 at Pocono Raceway with Ryan Blaney.
Moore sent a text to Wood, who was mowing his lawn but still fired back immediately. Within five minutes, Wood started a group chat with himself, Moore and Burton. Within 25 minutes of the initial text, Moore was on the phone with Burton for 45 minutes. An hour-long phone call with both Harrison and Jeff came after.
AM had its new driver.
'It's strange how these things happened, but it's a full-circle deal for us because I spent a lot of time with the Wood Brothers and absolutely loved working for that family and being a part of that race team,' Moore said. 'Now, being able to work with them again and bring Harrison over here to our program, it's pretty gratifying.'
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To sign a driver of Burton's caliber was important for AM. The single-car team was coming off a year in which Hailie Deegan departed the organization halfway through the season. The second half of 2024 was split among six drivers.
'You hear the word 'rebuilding' a lot, more so in stick-and-ball sports, but essentially, that's what we've done,' Moore said of his 2025 outlook. 'We took an opportunity that wasn't fun in the middle of the year last year to begin that reset. When we decided to do that, we wanted to focus on talent and chemistry.'
But the opportunity with AM also presented a new challenge for Burton, where he would become a key element in building a team. Ultimately, he believes that can raise his value.
'We're not Joe Gibbs Racing, but I think we have what you need to run well,' Burton stated. 'As a driver, if you put me in a position where I'm running well at the end of the race, I feel like I can capitalize on that. Going somewhere where I was actually wanted and it wasn't, 'We would love to have you, but how much money can you bring?' It was, 'We can hire you and figure out the rest.'
'All of those things put together, along with me being able to build something from scratch with this group, is something I'm excited about. It's an interesting opportunity for me to find out about myself and how I can help lead this team and grow into a better driver.'
With a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team, expectations are high for AM Racing in 2025. Burton is a four-time winner at the Xfinity Series level and has proven he can get it done.
'My expectations are we're going to perform well, win races and make the playoffs,' he said. 'That's my goal and the mindset we all have to have. It is a very deep driver class, there are a lot of great teams with a lot of cars. It's going to be a challenge, but that's what it's supposed to be; it's supposed to be hard. That's what makes racing special to me.'
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