Burton & AM ‘Maximizing Our Finishes’ In Playoff Push

Harrison Burton (25) battles Christian Eckes at Dover Motor Speedway. (Wyatt Tinsley/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

DOVER, Del. – There’s times in racing where a driver naturally wants more, especially in a vulnerable circumstance, but sometimes one must settle with what they have.

In a rain-shortened NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, Harrison Burton made the most out of the hand he was dealt.

Burton finished 11th Saturday afternoon in the BetRivers 200, securing his ninth top 15 in his last 11 races. However, his solid day wasn’t quite enough to solve his problem on the playoff cut line, as he sits seven points back from his cousin and fellow bubble competitor Jeb Burton.

But the tangible improvement for the 24-year-old from start to finish on the weekend was a big deal, even if Burton knows exactly what his goal needs to be going forward.

"From where we were in practice, we'll take that. I think the thing that we need to do now is just get more stage points. I still feel like we're missing that aspect of things,” said Burton. “But for our guys to make a change to a car that was 36th [on speed] in practice ... we were buried at that point, and yet we qualified inside the top 10 and raced around the top 10 all day long.

“That kind of a bounce back is really, really good for us.”

Despite missing out on stage points at Dover, Burton was a mainstay inside the top 15. He was 12th in stage one and 15th in stage two. But sometimes there are days where a driver isn’t the best on track, nor are they the worst either.

Those in between days are ones that are needed in order to build consistency and a strong foundation.

While Burton’s overall goal is to win, and then to one day get back to the Cup Series, the top-15 finishes he’s getting right now are vital for a developing program like AM Racing, where small gains matter.

“We weren't as fast as [series sponsor] Xfinity Mobile to start, but we ended pretty fast,” Burton said. “That makes me so proud of our Morton Buildings team and everyone with Ford Performance and beyond who help us out on a regular basis.”

Harrison Burton (John Harrelson/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Saturday was AM Racing’s best finish as a team at Dover. Burton and the No. 25 Ford have an average finish of 14th this season, on pace for the best statistical year in the organization’s history.

Burton also captured his fourth straight finish at the concrete mile of 11th of better in the Xfinity Series, dating back to his days running for Joe Gibbs Racing.

It’s not necessarily flashy, but it’s got Burton right in the thick of a potential run for a championship.

“I think that’s really been the story of our year, is maximizing our finishes and racing our way through these things, where we just fight to get all we can out of each day. With a guy like my crew chief Danny Efland calling the shots, you never want to quit,” Burton added.  “It’d be easy to back down and say, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to be horrible this weekend,’ but he just kept throwing changes at it and the car responded to where we were able to be competitive.”

As Burton’s playoff pursuit continues, the Xfinity Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway with just six weeks remaining in the regular season. He’s the first driver on the outside looking in at this stage.

The 24-year-old has never raced at the Indy oval in the Xfinity Series. When he was last full-time in the series, NASCAR utilized the road course layout for its race weekends at the Brickyard. However, he did race on the oval while in the Cup Series last season and qualified 16th for the 2024 Brickyard 400.

The Huntersville, N.C., native was involved in a wreck and did not finish the race last year. This time around in an Xfinity car, he’ll look to better his luck.

“That's what this team has done all year, we battle. That’s what we'll hopefully continue to do,” said Burton. “We just need to start off a little better so that we can get stage points and do the things we need to in order to grow past that cut line and get ourselves into the playoffs before the end of the regular season.

“Indy is such a historic place and it’s exciting to be back there at a time when we’re looking for all the positives we can put together for our team.”

Coverage of the Pennzoil 250 from the Brickyard begins Saturday, July 26 at 4:30 p.m. ET on The CW, the IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.