DOVER, Del. — Harrison Burton came to Dover Int’l Speedway hoping to win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East finale and walk away with the 2017 championship.
He did just that.
The Huntersville, N.C., native passed Ruben Garcia Jr. with just 16 laps to go in the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation 125 presented by Carl Deputy & Son Builders and pulled away before a late race caution set up an overtime finish. On the restart, Burton was able to pull away again and score the victory.
By virtue of his win, and mid-race misfortunes of the other title contender, Todd Gilliland, Burton clinched his first NASCAR championship. The NASCAR Next driver became the youngest champion in series history. He broke the record set by current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano, who won the 2007 K&N Pro Series East championship at 17 years, 3 months, 28 days.
“What an honor to win both the race and championship at Dover, it’s pretty freaking cool,” Burton said. “It’s what I dreamed to do as a kid, win races at tracks like this and win NASCAR championships. To come out and do that is pretty surreal. I’m pretty pumped up about it.”
It was the fifth win of the season for Burton, who entered the last race trailing Gilliland by eight points.
“This race kind of caps it all off for this team,” Burton remarked. “A bunch of guys who never quit and I’m glad I fit into that system where people that put everything we got into what we’re doing. Now that it’s all come to fruition and we got to bring home two trophies, it’s a big relief and we’re going to go have fun now.”
Burton is the first driver to win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship and the season finale in the same season since Mike Stefanik wrapped up his 1998 title with a win at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park. Burton is also the first driver to cap his championship season with a win at Dover.
Burton’s dad, Jeff, won the Cup race at Dover in 2006.
Gilliland qualified fourth and looked strong early until lap 56 when he blew a tire, sending him into the wall in turn two and ending his day.
“This one is really disappointing,” said Gilliland, a fellow NASCAR Next driver who is also leading the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship standings with three races to go. “I felt like we had pretty good control of it going in here. We were just as fast as Burton in the race. Just having a tire go down like that is heartbreaking for sure. I’m really proud of everyone at Bill McAnally Racing. We’ve had the fastest cars here all year, just didn’t have the luck to go along with it.”
Gilliland finished 13th, giving Burton a final margin of eight points (593-585). Ronnie Bassett Jr. finished third in points, followed by Sunoco Rookie of the Year Chase Purdy and Garcia.
Eddie MacDonald finished second in the race while Tyler Dippel, Sheldon Creed and Jay Beasley rounded out the top five.
The finish:
- (3) Harrison Burton, Huntersville, N.C., Toyota, 128 laps, 92.978 mph.
- (12) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., Chevrolet, 128.
- (5) Tyler Dippel, Wallkill, N.Y., Ford, 128.
- (7) Sheldon Creed, Alpine, Calif., Toyota, 128.
- (8) Jay Beasley, Las Vegas, Nev., Toyota, 128.
- (15) Enrique Baca, Monterrey, Mexico, Chevrolet, 128.
- (13) Riley Herbst, Las Vegas, Nev., Toyota, 128.
- (1) Collin Cabre, Tampa, FL, Toyota, 127, dnf.
- (6) Ronnie Bassett, Jr., Winston-Salem, NC, Chevrolet, 127.
- (2) Ruben Garcia Jr., Mexico City, Mexico, Toyota, 119, accident.
- (9) Chase Cabre, Tampa, Fla., Toyota, 118, accident.
- (11) Trey Hutchens, Lexington, NC, Chevrolet, 75, mechanical.
- (4) Todd Gilliland, Sherrills Ford, N.C., Toyota, 56, accident.
- (10) Dillon Bassett, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 40, accident.
- (14) Chase Purdy, Meridian, Miss., Toyota, 12, accident.
Source :speedsport.com
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