MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 8, 2018) – Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that Harrison Burton will return to the organization in 2018 with an expanded NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) schedule. Burton will drive the No. 51 Tundra in nine NCWTS races this season, beginning March 24 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Burton, the son of former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, made his Truck Series debut with KBM at Martinsville in October of 2016 and enters 2018 with seven NCWTS starts under his belt. In six NCWTS starts in 2017, he recorded an average finish of 12.3 and earned a career-best fourth-place finish at Martinsville last October in his final start of the season.Last year was a breakout year for the second-generation driver as he gained valuable experience while competing in a variety of series. He captured the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship after registering a series-high five wins, two poles, 142 laps led, 12 top-five and 14 top-ten finishes and an average finish of 3.3 across the series’ 14 events. Burton also visited victory lane in his lone ARCA Racing Series start at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway.
In Super Late Models, he visited victory lane twice en route to the championship in 51st Annual World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway outdueled Cup Series driver Erik Jones for the victory in the prestigious ARCA/CRA Super Late Model SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Ga., and won his lone CARS Super Late Model Tour start at Concord (N.C.) Speedway.
“Harrison made great strides as a driver in 2017 and we look forward to being a part of his continued development by expanding his schedule at KBM in 2018,” Kyle Busch said. “He proved capable of winning races in a variety of series last year and with each Truck Series start you could see his confidence grow and his performance improve. We’re confident that his first Truck Series win is just around the corner.”“Returning to KBM and knowing that they had the confidence in me to add races to my schedule for this year is a huge honor,” Burton said. “KBM has a developed a culture of winning races and I’m confident that everything I learned throughout my six-race schedule last year has helped me be prepared to carry on the winning tradition this year.”
The NASCAR Next product’s nine-race NCWTS schedule in 2018 will include both races at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway as well as Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Iowa Speedway in Newton, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont., the November race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway and the season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
Announcements on Burton’s sponsors and crew chief are forthcoming.