Harrison Burton Goes Three Wide to Win at Homestead

Wilfredo Lee Photo

HOMESTEAD, FL – RIS -Harrison Burton prevailed in a three-wide, frantic push to the checkered flag to win Saturday's Hooters 250 on a restart with only two laps remaining in the first event of a NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  A late caution flag gave Harrison Burton new life, and he took advantage.

Burton took the inside line on the way to the lead in the final lap of the Hooters 250 and held on to win the Xfinity Series race Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway – denying, among others, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Noah Gragson, who seemed to be in full command with seven laps remaining.

Burton, Gragson and Austin Cindric were three-wide going into that last lap, and it was Burton – the 19-year-old son of former Cup star Jeff Burton, who wound up in front in a wild finish. Jeff Burton shares a broadcast booth with Earnhardt when NBC takes over NASCAR broadcasts in the second half of each season.

 “Omg!!!!!! What a bad assss restart,” Burton’s mother, Kim, tweeted. “You are the damn man kid!!!! I love you.”

Cindric was second and Gragson third, two spots ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., his co-team owner at JR Motor Sports.

“I don’t know what I was doing, either, honestly,” Burton said of the three-wide fight going into that final lap. “What a race.”

The race looked like a runaway with Noah Gragson leading by over 10 seconds with seven laps to go.  Then came the caution and the big move by Burton.  With potential favorite, Chase Briscoe out of the running due to car problems, Gragson, the winner at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier this season, seemed to have the best car.  On this day, it was anyone’s race.

While Burton was giddy at him improbable win, Gragson said what had held him back.

“Restarts were just the biggest struggle. … Just couldn’t get it going,” Gragson said.

It was Earnhardt’s third Xfinity Series appearance since retiring as a full-time Cup Series driver in 2017. He’s been top-five in all three of those races, and was sitting second behind only Gragson when that late flag came out.

“I was rusty, all the way through,” Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt was winless in 17 Cup Series starts at Homestead in his career, with only one finish better than 10th in those. He’d also raced there five times in the Xfinity Series, placing second in 1999 for his best finish.

The Xfinity Series races again tomorrow at this same venue.

Unofficial Results, Hooters 250, Homestead-Miami Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Harrison Burton #, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota, 167, , 7, 1, 2, 5, 44, Running
2) 9, Austin Cindric, No. 22 PPG Ford, 167, 4, 2, 3, 24, , 51, Running
3) 2, Noah Gragson, No. 9 PUBG MOBILE Chevrolet, 167, 3, 1, 5, 83, 1, 52, Running
4) 21, Anthony Alfredo, No. 21 iRacing Chevrolet, 167, , 8, , , , 36, Running
5) 12, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Hellmann's Chevrolet, 167, 7, 4, 1, 4, , 43, Running
6) 17, Michael Annett, No. 1 Allstate Parts & Service Group Chevrolet, 167, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 8, Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford, 167, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 4, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Fisher Toyota, 167, 9, 5, 1, 1, , 37, Running
9) 3, Ross Chastain, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 167, 2, 3, 5, 26, , 45, Running
10) 6, Riley Herbst #, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 167, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 14, JJ Yeley, No. 07 Jacob Construction Chevrolet, 167, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 23, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Fly and Form Structures Chevrolet, 167, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 10, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 167, 8, 6, , , , 32, Running
14) 5, Brandon Brown, No. 68 bmsraceteam.com Chevrolet, 167, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 26, Myatt Snider, No. 93 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 166, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 32, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, 166, 10, , , , , 22, Running
17) 31, Colby Howard, No. 15 SANY America Chevrolet, 166, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 16, Jesse Little #, No. 4 Series Seating/KSDT Chevrolet, 166, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 15, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 EcoVirux Chevrolet, 166, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 18, Josh Williams, No. 92 Starbrite/Star Tron Chevrolet, 166, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 37, Colin Garrett, No. 26 Rosie Network/R4H Toyota, 166, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 27, Stefan Parsons, No. 99 RACINGJOBS.COM Toyota, 165, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 28, Timmy Hill(i), No. 61 RoofClaim.com Toyota, 165, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 25, Bayley Currey(i), No. 74 Mutt and Jeff Porkskins Chevrolet, 165, , , , , , 0, Running
25) 36, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Globocam/Rousseau Chevrolet, 165, 5, , , , , 18, Running
26) 22, BJ McLeod, No. 6 KSDT CPA Chevrolet, 165, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 35, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 165, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 7, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 165, 1, 9, 2, 27, 1, 21, Running
29) 24, Caesar Bacarella, No. 90 Alpha Prime/Maxim Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 19, Chad Finchum, No. 13 CrashClaimsR.us Toyota, 160, , , , , , 7, Power
31) 34, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 11, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Thank You Team BRANDT Chevrolet, 146, , 10, , , , 6, Running
33) 29, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 #BACKTHEBLUE Chevrolet, 67, 6, , , , , 9, Transmission
34) 20, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Chevrolet, 58, , , , , , 3, DVP
35) 13, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Robert B. Our Co. Inc Chevrolet, 56, , , , , , 0, Accident
36) 33, Stephen Leicht, No. 66 JANIKING Toyota, 49, , , , , , 1, Handling
37) 30, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 ADVANCED DAIRY SERVICE Chevrolet, 32, , , , , , 1, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 167 laps, 250.5 miles
Time of Race: 2 hr, 6 min, 34 Sec
Average Speed: 118.752 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.179 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 39, 10, 9, 22, 36, 47, 8, 11, 19, 08
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 22, 10, 8, 19, 11, 20, 21, 39, 7

Race Comments: Harrison Burton won the Hooters 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his second victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Caution Flags: 5 for 25 laps;
Laps: 22-24 (Competition Caution [90]);
38-45 (Possible Fluid On Track From No.52 / Stage 1 Conclusion [5]);
59-62 (No.02, 78 Incident Turn 3 [74]);
82-87 (Stage 2 Conclusion [98]);
162-165 (No.39 Spin Turn 1 [21]).

Lead Changes: 18 among 7 drivers;
N. Gragson 1-23;
R. Chastain 24-27;
R. Sieg 28-41;
N. Gragson 42-45;
R. Chastain 46;
A. Cindric 47-61;
R. Chastain 62-71;
N. Gragson 72-83;
D. Earnhardt Jr. 84-87;
R. Chastain 88-92;
A. Cindric 93;
R. Chastain 94-99;
A. Cindric 100-107;
N. Gragson 108-121;
B. Jones 122;
R. Sieg 123-135;
N. Gragson 136-165;
H. Burton # 166-167.

Mobil 1 Driver of Race Award: Harrison Burton, No.20
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Harrison Burton, No.20