Harrison Burton’s Superspeedway Fortunes Are Miserable
Wood Brothers’ third-year driver Harrison Burton was again caught up in a crash in Monday’s Daytona 500, continuing a terrible strech of luck for the driver on superspeedways. John Hunter Nemechek lost control following a push and made hard contact with Burton, sending him into the infield before his Ford Mustang Dark Horse slid back up the track where he was hit by two more cars. Burton’s DNF and 39th-place finish continues an unbroken string of misfortunes for the driver on superspeedways.
Harrison Burton has an average finish of 32nd and several DNFs in the nine superspeedway races beginning in his rookie 2022 season. Adding to the frustration, Burton often has speed at Daytona and Talladega, but his fortunes always go awry. Despite leading over 20 laps across several races, he’s seemingly always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
His 19th place finish at the 2022 fall Daytona race, which was a DNF, is his best superspeedway finish in the Cup Series.
His superspeedway results show his stifled success.
Burton started his rookie campaign by lining up eighth for the 2022 Daytona 500. Burton remained up front and led the race twice for three laps. His auspicious start ended abruptly when he was pushed by Brad Keselowski on the backstraight. Burton’s car veered hard to the left, causing a multi-car crash. Burton’s car became airborne as he spun, with the No. 21 Ford landing on its roof before rolling back onto its wheels.
Burton was caught up in a nine-car accident on lap 91 of the spring Talladega race. He finished 34th.
Burton was caught up in late-race melee of the fall 2022 Daytona race in which much of field was wrecked in turn one as rain began to fall. Burton was running in the top-10 at the time of the wreck.
The final superspeedway race of Burton’s rookie season resulted in another DNF. Burton worked his way into the top-10 early in the race but was pushed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on lap 25 as Burton veered into the top lane. The push caused Burton to lose control, but he never recovered. About a dozen cars were involved in the ensuing pileup. Burton finished 36th.
He led nine laps in his sophomore season in the Daytona 500, but again, bad luck bit him. Burton was caught up the “big one” in the first overtime period while running 15th. He finished 26th.
His Wood Brothers car again showed superspeedway speed in the spring Talladega race. Burton led three times for 11 laps. He fell back near the end of the race, and with five laps to go, a spin from Joey Logano wrecked several cars. Burton was hit and slid across in the infield into the inside wall. The damage ended his day and relegated him to a 36th-place finish.
Burton was again caught up in the “big one” at the 2023 fall Daytona race. Burton led several laps around the midway point but dropped back to just outside of the top-10 on the final lap of stage two. Ty Gibbs lost control while fighting Ryan Blaney for the lead. As the pileup ensued, Burton got hard on the brakes and moved down the track. But as cars checked up behind him, Austin Dillon moved up into Burton’s Ford, sending him up the track and into the outside wall. He finished 28th.
Burton finished 31st in the fall Talladega race last season. A multi-car wreck with 30 laps to go included Burton, who retired with suspension damage.
