“He’s just 13-year-old,” Jeff Burton proudly shouted in disbelief of his son Harrison’s latest accomplishment — finishing third in just his second Super Late Model start in the Southern Super Series Rattler 250 on Sunday night at South Alabama Speedway.
That was scene following the race as Jeff Burton loaded up his pit box into the No. 12 hauler.
The younger Burton, affectionately called “Little Shoe”, is just completing his first complete-year in a full-bodied Stock Car and is showing the skillset of a veteran, earning praise from his father, the winner of 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and one of the most respected wheelmen of his era.
Jeff offered both praise and a critique of his son following the race but has no doubt that he’s raise quite the talent.
“Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t,” Jeff said. “He has always been good about missing wrecks. That’s just him in whatever he’s driven… he’s really good at that. That helped him a lot tonight.”
Improvement, according to the elder Burton, will have to come on restarts.
Harrison restarted on the outside of the front row on the final restart on lap 247 but just couldn’t get going. He lost the runner-up spot to Anderson Bowen but was able to find speed and hold off Kyle Grissom in the closing laps.
“He never restarted in the Super before until tonight,” Jeff said. “And the on that restart, when the leader brought him around slow, (Harrison) tried second gear, and he never tried a second gear restart before so he spun the tires so it was a great learning experience.”
As for Little Shoe himself, while he was disappointed in not being able to race for the win, finishing on the ‘podium’ in just his second Super Late Model start gives him a ton of confidence moving forward. The Burtons plan to run their prospect through the gauntlet this season, racing in the Pro Late Model, Pro All Stars Series (PASS) and the Southern Super Series.
“This was very encouraging,” Harrison said. “The guys who finished in front of me are winning drivers and we were right there with them. And I can’t thank the competitors enough for racing me clean and it was just a lot of fun.”
