DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Harrison Burton knows that the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is a piv0tal year at Wood Brothers Racing.
The driver of the legendary No. 21 Ford Mustang believes that the upcoming 36-race season is a “do or go home” situation as the Huntersville, N.C. native is looking for a breakout season.
Burton’s performances in his first two seasons of Cup competition have not been anything to get excited about, but an often upbeat driver loaded with talent believes the pieces are in place to make this season the best yet.
“I’m excited about it,” Burton said Wednesday morning during Daytona 500 Media Day talking about the upcoming season. “We got the right group together. I think all of our mindsets are very similar. We understand what’s on the line, and that makes us kinda dangerous this year, and I’m excited to go out and try and make some cool stuff happen.”
When asked why 2024 makes the No. 21 Ford Mustang team dangerous, Burton didn’t hold back.
“I think everything for us. If you look back at it, the third year – it’s do or go home,” added Burton. “I don’t know anything about contracts or all that – I’m out of the loop on that. I try to be.
“I know for a fact this is an important year for us. We’re going to go out and come out fighting and make it happen. I’m excited for that. It makes things very clear almost when you are in that situation.”
To help make the year successful, Burton will have a change of voice atop of the spotter’s stand. After spending his first two seasons in Cup working alongside Tyler Green, a switch was made during the offseason with Jason Jarrett, the former Xfinity Series driver and son of former Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett will guide the two-time Xfinity Series driver this season.
Burton empathized that he believes Jarrett’s investments will pay dividends in 2024.
“I’m excited,” added Burton. “Jason is really invested in our group. He’s someone that is really thoughtful about the way we prepare, and he’s been excited to be a part of a lot of our meetings. We’ve brought him in to watch races and done all the things we can do to prepare for this one.
“There’s nothing like doing it in real-time. It’s definitely going to take some time, how much time that is, I really don’t know. When you go into the duels, you hope by after the duel you are up and running and that goes smooth, you feel confident, he feels confident.”
Communication will be paramount for the two in 2024 and with Burton planning to listen to Jarrett during the Truck Series and Xfinity Series this weekend at Daytona, he believes will put their relationship that much farther ahead not only for Daytona – but for the season.
“The biggest thing that we can do is be very clear on what we both want from each other and have that from the start of the relationship and from there and do everything within those boundaries and it tends to work out,” added Burton. “I trust him and he’s had a lot of great drivers he’s worked for. He’s been in a lot of situations to try and win races and I think that experience will help us a lot for sure.
Entering this year’s DAYTONA 500, Burton has one top-five and four top-10 finishes in 73 Cup Series starts.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
