Harrison Burton Wins First Career Xfinity Race at Fontana

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FONTANA, CA – RIS – Harrison Burton won his first career Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Saturday.  Burton held off fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Riley Herbst in the closing laps of the race.  The 19-year-old Burton is the son of NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton, and he finished strong with an impressive final restart.

When Las Vegas winner Chase Briscoe spun on the 126th lap of the 150-lap race and caused the sixth caution of the final stage, Burton was the first off pit row among the lead-lap cars. He kept the lead on the restart, and he hung on for his first win in 12 Xfinity starts with Herbst close behind.

“To get a win feels so good, especially after we struggled a little bit last year,” Burton said after his third top-five finish of the new season. “Once we moved up to the top at the end, it was going to be hard for him to pass us. Just trying to be smart and not put it in the wall leading."

His celebratory burnout after the checkered flag caused him to be pushed to victory lane by the track’s tow truck.  Burton is the second first-time winner in the new season's first three races. Noah Gragson got his first victory in the season opener at Daytona.

Burton led 40 laps. His Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate, Brandon Jones, led every lap of the first two stages on the weathered asphalt at Auto Club Speedway. Jones finished with 75 laps led, but a tire rub with 49 laps left forced him to pit, and he finished 30th.

 

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Harrison Burton #, No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota, 150, 3, 3, 3, 40, 5, 56, Running
2) 5, Riley Herbst #, No. 18 Monster Toyota, 150, 6, 6, , , , 45, Running
3) 7, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford, 150, 8, 5, , , , 43, Running
4) 8, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMR Roofing Chevrolet, 150, 7, 9, , , , 39, Running
5) 9, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 150, , , 1, 3, , 32, Running
6) 13, Anthony Alfredo, No. 21 Anderson's Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 4, Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 150, 5, 2, 3, 10, , 45, Running
8) 6, Ross Chastain, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 150, 4, 7, 1, 4, , 40, Running
9) 11, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Repairables.com Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 25, Josh Williams, No. 92 Silverton Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 19, Myatt Snider, No. 93 Superior Essex Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 10, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 150, , 8, 1, 3, , 28, Running
13) 17, Alex Labbe, No. 90 Larue Snowblowers Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 29, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Robert B Our Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
15) 36, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 15, Austin Hill(i), No. 61 AISIN Group Toyota, 149, , , , , , 0, Running
17) 14, Michael Annett, No. 1 AHA/Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 149, 10, 10, 1, 1, , 22, Running
18) 31, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 3, Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Production Alliance Group Ford, 148, 2, 4, 3, 16, , 34, Running
20) 27, Chad Finchum, No. 13 MANSCAPED Toyota, 148, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 30, David Starr, No. 6 Bob Menery's Ripper Magoo's Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 20, Ray Black II, No. 07 CDA Tech Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 35, Robby Lyons II, No. 15 Sunwest Construction Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 26, BJ McLeod, No. 0 KSDT CPA Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 23, JJ Yeley, No. 52 Circle Track Warehouse Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 12, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Nationwide Children's Chevrolet, 147, 9, , , , , 13, Running
27) 32, Matt Mills, No. 5 J F Electric Chevrolet, 146, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 16, Jesse Little #, No. 4 Series Seating Chevrolet, 146, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 34, Josh Bilicki, No. 99 Toyota, 146, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 1, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Toyota Service Centers Toyota, 146, 1, 1, 1, 73, 2, 27, Running
31) 22, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 CORE Development Group Chevrolet, 143, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 18, Bayley Currey(i), No. 47 The Journey Home Project Chevrolet, 120, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 21, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Vero Chevrolet, 115, , , , , , 4, Engine
35) 33, Stephen Leicht, No. 66 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 78, , , , , , 2, Fuel Pump34)

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 28 Mins, 15 Secs.
Race Length: 150 Laps, 300 Miles
Average Speed: 121.417 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.455 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 98, 20, 10, 8, 18, 39, 22, 9, 1
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 8, 20, 98, 22, 18, 10, 7, 39, 1

Race Comments: Harrison Burton won the Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway, his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 44 (engine change), No. 47 (unapproved adjustments) and No. 99 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 8 for 36 laps;
Laps: 37-42 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]);
72-77 (Stage 2 Conclusion [78]);
83-85 (No. 11 Spin in Turn 4 [44]);
87-90 (No. 02, 08, 1, 68 Incident in Turn 2 [None]);
93-96 (No. 5 Incident in Turn 2 [93]);
98-101 (No. 9 and 10 Incident on the backstretch [68]);
110-113 (Debris in Turn 4 [1]);
127-131 (No. 98 Spin in Turn 4 [61]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers;
B. Jones 1-73;
D. Hemric 74-77;
H. Burton # 78-85;
D. Hemric 86-90;
J. Allgaier 91-93;
J. Haley 94-96;
C. Briscoe 97-100;
D. Hemric 101;
C. Briscoe 102-109;
R. Chastain 110-113;
C. Briscoe 114-117;
H. Burton # 118-129;
M. Annett 130;
H. Burton # 131-150.

Pole Award: Brandon Jones, No. 19 39.948 seconds, 180.234 mph

35) 33, Stephen Leicht, No. 66 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 78, , , , , , 2, Fuel Pump

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 2, Posted 9:10 PM, 02.29.2020