Mixed feelings for Burton over Wood Brothers exit
Yesterday at 01:41 PM
Harrison Burton departs from Wood Brothers Racing feeling both fulfilled from having won a race for one of the sport's most beloved families, but also conflicted about his tenure.
"Obviously, I wanted to do more and wanted to do more sooner," Burton said. "I really think if I run the way I the last half of this season earlier, I keep my job. That's a part of racing. It's performing when it matters and performing before silly season starts."
Burton future’s with the No. 21 team was in the rumor mill before the summer began. Then, just ahead of the Fourth of July, the announcement was made that Josh Berry will take over the car beginning in 2025.
"I can leave knowing that my main goal when I got hired was to win a Cup race with the Wood Brothers," Burton said. "So, to check that off the box is really cool. To do it at Daytona, to do it with the group that I've talked about over and over again, it's hard to beat that stuff. It's stuff that I as a competitor live for that, and I can leave there not feeling satisfied but feeling partially satisfied, I guess, with that win, for sure."
A dramatic, last lap pass in the summer race at Daytona International Speedway was the long-awaited 100th victory for the Wood Brothers and the first in the series for Burton. And since it was the second-to-last race in the regular season, it propelled the team into the postseason.
The victory was Burton's second – and would be final – top 10 finish of the season. He finished 16th in the championship standings with an average finish of 25.7. There were also seven DNFs and only 18 lead lap finishes in 36 races.
"The win is obviously a highlight but what we did with it afterward and the way we built each other up, I take a lot of pride in that," Burton said. "I take a lot of pride that I can be really good friends with all of my guys still and go to the shop to do whatever… moving my stuff out and talking to those guys. They're my friends still. There are a lot of chances for that not to go that way, and you see that sometimes with different drivers and different teams where it ends ugly.
"I'm proud of our team for not getting that way and if I see Jeremy Bullins around… high-five him and give him a hug. Or any of those guys… All of that group, the way they rallied around me in the hardest time of my life and I rallied around them, is special and hard to replicate."
Burton was hired for the ride in 2022. In three seasons, he earned a combined six top-10 finishes. He was chosen after two seasons and four wins in the Xfinity Series.
The Xfinity Series is where Burton goes back to. Out of a ride in the Cup Series, he was hired by AM Racing in September to drive its flagship entry. The team will have a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team.
That is what the immediate future holds for Burton. However, in the future he still wants to be a Cup Series driver with more to prove.
"I'm still young; I'm 24 years old and have a lot of tread on the tire," Burton said. "So, I'm ready to go, man. I'm super confident in myself and what I can do. I know that in the right circumstance, I can be a Cup level driver. So, I've got to go prove it, got to go earn it.
"You see guys like Cole have done that and have gone back. Or even Dale Jarrett back in the day. He's a guy that is a Cup champion and had to go back to the Xfinity Series. Having talked to guys like that and them saying, you're going to be fine, it's OK, is reassuring. But I have to go earn it. It's not going to be sitting there for free. We're going to have to go take it."
