Harrison Burton made history when he earned the 100th race win for Wood Brothers Racing at Daytona a few weeks ago. However, the 23-year-old will not be part of the team next season as he is being replaced by Josh Berry. Berry is one of the Stewart-Haas Racing drivers who would have been out of a job at the end of the season. The veteran race car driver revealed that despite him replacing Burton next season, there are no hard feelings between them, and wishes the #21 team the very best.
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“We’ve all been doing this stuff a long time and there’s no awkwardness or hard feelings there. Obviously, I’m cheering for those guys. They’re in the Playoffs. They’re focused. I’m staying out of everything they have going on. They’re focused on their Playoff run these next few weeks and I’m gonna let them do their thing,” he said in a recent media interaction.
Burton’s victory at Daytona was a momentous occasion for the sport. A lot of people are not happy that he’s in the playoffs since he does not have as many points as many who did not make it. But that’s just how the system works. Burton is not going to worry about that one bit. The 23-year-old has to run as well as he can so that he can impress teams, who may consider giving him a seat for next season.
The #21 was caught in a wreck at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday and was not able to reach the checkered flag. Burton sits 14th in the standing right now, 16 points behind the round of 12 cutline. The next two race weekends have to be incredible for him to make it through.
Berry on his “whirlwind” Cup Series run
For Berry, this is a situation he never expected to be in. Getting the call from SHR and joining the Cup Series must have been a special moment for the veteran, However, he must have expected to stick his feet in the ground here and race with the team for many years. That’s clearly not happening since SHR is closing shop at the end of this year. The #4 driver spoke about this in the press conference ahead of the Atlanta race.
“To be honest, the last couple of years have been a whirlwind, and I think even sitting here today I never would have thought I would be in this situation and this would all happen like it has even this year. I don’t even know if I really know what to expect anymore,” he said.
Berry has proven to be a talented race car driver who has what it takes to win races. It will be interesting to see how he performs with the Wood Brothers starting next season.
