Harrison Burton, fresh from his inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory last year at Daytona International Speedway, for the 2025 season, secured a spot with AM Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
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Shortly before his Daytona win last year, it was revealed that he wouldn’t be returning to the Cup Series the following year with Wood Brothers Racing.
However, this weekend, when he donned one of his father’s former paint schemes on his car at Darlington Raceway, Harrison talked about his dynamic with his father, Jeff Burton. He talked about the importance of the throwback weekend, despite not competing in the sport’s top tier anymore.
When comparing his early Cup Series achievements to those of his father, while the younger Burton bagged his first win in his third season, his father was able to do it in his fourth. However, the senior Burton didn’t just celebrate his initial win in 1997; he also captured two additional victories that year and secured a fourth-place finish in the overall standings.
Before his first win, Jeff Burton had accumulated several top-5 finishes, three of which he achieved in the season leading up to his first Cup win. In contrast, over his three full-time Cup seasons, Harrison has managed only one top-5 and four top-10 finishes. Now, eight races into the Xfinity season, Burton has already achieved three top-10s and two stage victories.
But Harrison’s bond with his father transcends mere racing statistics. As someone who has always looked up to his father, he shared, “My dad has been one of my best friends my whole life and I grew up just wanting to be like him. Anytime I get to throw it back to him regardless of the car I’m in it’s always my favorite; he’s definitely a hero of mine.”
This weekend at Darlington, during the Throwback Weekend, Harrison sported one of his father’s former paint schemes on his #25 Ford, finishing 13th after winning the first stage.
Reflecting on his relationship with his father, especially after narrowly missing the top 10 in a car that bears his dad’s livery, Harrison remarked: “I think it’s cool to just talk about the situations that happened in this car with him and learn about it. I’ll enjoy this one while it’s still wrapped up.”
Jeff Burton, over a career spanning 22 years, won 21 Cup races across 695 races. Fans are now keen to see if Harrison can approach, or perhaps even surpass, his father’s winning stats.
