Harrison Burton will remain with the Wood Brothers Racing and continue to drive the No. 21 Ford Mustang in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, as confirmed during this weekend’s activities at Talladega Superspeedway.
The news comes as the 22-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, is currently campaigning in his second full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series for the legendary organization, where he is currently ranked in 31st place in the driver’s standings on the strength of two top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 24.5.
“At the end of the day, it’s fairly easy for me because I am happy where I’m at, and I hope to continue to race where I’m at,” Burton said. “You know, it’s fairly easy for me to kind of just go to work with the guys that I’ve worked with for the last year and a half or so, and yeah, it’s not super distracting at this point.”
During the 2021 season, Burton, who was campaigning in his second full-time stint in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2021 for Gaunt Brothers Racing, where he finished 20th. Three months later, Burton was named a full-time Cup competitor for Wood Brothers Racing for the 2022 season, where he replaced Matt DiBenedetto and piloted the iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang. In his first full-time Cup season, Burton notched a career-best third-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. He proceeded to collect two top-10 results, lead 35 laps and record an average-finishing result of 22.8 before settling in 27th place in the final standings and runner-up to the Rookie-of-the-Year battle behind Austin Cindric.
This season, Burton’s highest on-track results include a sixth-place finish at Darlington Raceway in May and an eighth-place run at Pocono Raceway in July. After spending the first 26 scheduled events with crew chief Brian Wilson, who was with Burton since last season, Burton has been paired with veteran crew chief Jeremy Bullins as part of a Team Penske-Wood Brothers crew chief swap that involved Austin Cindric since the start of the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs and the duo are coming off a 20th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Both Burton and Bullins are scheduled to remain together with the No. 21 team for the 2024 season.
Through 67 Cup starts, Burton has notched one top-five result, four top-10 results, 60 laps led and an average-finishing result of 23.5 as he continues his pursuit for his first victory in NASCAR’s premier series.
With his plans for next season set, Burton’s next scheduled Cup start is slated to occur at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 1. The event’s coverage is scheduled to air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
