Race Weekend Central

Harrison Burton Flips In Wild Daytona 500 Crash

NASCAR Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Things were calm for a while in Sunday’s (Feb. 20) Daytona 500. A couple of cautions dotted stage one, but things picked up in a hurry as the segment wound down. Double-file racing prevailed with rookie Harrison Burton leading the outside lane. Burton’s No. 21 was visibly squirrely, and it culminated in Brad Keselowski pushing …

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Harrison Burton, Team Penske Top Daytona 500 Final Practice

#21: Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Mustang Motorcraft / Dex Imaging (NKP)

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing ran most of Daytona 500 final practice Saturday (Feb. 19) with all their cars on track. But it was rookie Harrison Burton from Wood Brothers Racing that set the fastest lap, posting the top speed with less than 10 minutes left in a quiet session.

In 21 laps on track, Burton ran a fast time of 47.782 seconds (188.355 mph). He’ll roll off eighth on the grid in the No. 21 while making his first Daytona 500 start.

What They Said: Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DeWalt Toyota, Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald's Toyota, Kurt Busch, driver of the #45 Monster Energy Toyota, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, drive during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Check out what the Daytona 500 competitors had to say Wednesday, Feb. 16, during media day for the 64th annual Great American Race.

2022 NASCAR Preseason Power Rankings: Nos. 30-21

2021 Talladega II Cup Bubba Wallace Matt DiBenedetto pack racing NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

It’s February, which means the NASCAR Cup Series takes to the track to start the 2022 season this month at Daytona International Speedway. With a wide array of driver and team changes from Silly Season alongside more minor personnel tweaks — or even a few lineups that stayed exactly the same — there’s a lot …

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Out With the Old, In With the New: 2021-2022 NASCAR Silly Season Recap

Next Gen Car Testing Daytona, Spire Motorsports Corey Lajoie, JTG Daugherty Ricky Stenhouse Jr., TrackHouse Racing Ross Chastain and Daniel Saurez, Hendrick Motorsports Dale Earnhardt Jr., Petty GMS Racing Erik Jones, Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, Kaulig Racing Justin Haley and Daniel Hemric NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

If you have watched football for a short duration, it probably did not take you long to realize that the wristband quarterbacks wear carry a portable playbook. This helps the quarterback have access to plays rather than having to memorize a plethora of them. Why am I talking about NFL wristbands? Because as a new …

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Menards Expands Penske Cup Sponsorship for 2022

2021 Kansas II Cup Ryan Blaney car Sean Gardner Getty

(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Menards will expand its sponsorship of Team Penske to two NASCAR Cup Series cars in 2022, Penske announced Nov. 30. Menards’ colors will adorn Austin Cindric‘s No. 2 in the series in addition to continuing its sponsorship of Ryan Blaney‘s No. 12. Additionally, Menards will sponsor Harrison Burton‘s rookie effort with Wood Brothers Racing in …

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Harrison Burton Gains Brian Wilson as Crew Chief for Rookie Cup Season

2021 Michigan NXS Harrison Burton smile NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Brian Wilson will call the shots atop Harrison Burton‘s pit box in his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, Wood Brothers Racing announced Nov. 11. Wilson moves up to Cup from the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he’d been Austin Cindric‘s crew chief at Team Penske, his tenure including a title-winning 2020. Wilson …

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Harrison Burton Fails to Make Championship 4 After Bad Luck

2021 Martinsville II NXS Harrison Burton racing NKP

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

One year ago, Harrison Burton seemed primed to make a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship run in 2021. But instead, on Saturday night (Oct. 30), his 2021 playoff run came to an end. Burton ended the 2020 season by winning back-to-back races, at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. He wasn’t eligible for the Championship 4 …

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Did You Notice?: What’s Next for Ford’s NASCAR Future After Rocky 2021 Playoffs?

Ford drivers Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric chat on pit road at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: NKP)

#12: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Menards/Moen and #33: Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Ford Mustang MoneyLion

Did You Notice? … The way Ford has struggled during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs? As I first pointed out at CBS Sports, they’ve gone 0-for-8 and sit outside Championship 4 position for the first time in the history of the format, implemented in 2014. That could change this weekend at Martinsville Speedway if any …

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Did You Notice?: Winless NASCAR Drivers Seeking Talladega Breakthrough

David Ragan celebrates his victory at Talladega Superspeedway with Front Row Motorsports in 2013. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Autostock)

Photo: Nigel Kinrade Autostock

Did You Notice? … Talladega Superspeedway has always been labeled the best track for winless NASCAR drivers to pull an upset? The 2.66-mile oval has a history of pulling off one-hit wonders, from Richard Brickhouse winning his first and only NASCAR Cup Series race there in 1969 to Ron Bouchard pulling off this three-wide thriller in …

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