NASCAR Next driver Harrison Burton expands his 2017 racing schedule

Burton, the 16-year-old son of NASCAR veteran and current NBC TV analyst Jeff Burton, has finalized most of his racing schedule for the year and it includes a mix of ARCA, Super Late Model and Camping World Truck races and once again competing for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship.

Burton has signed with MDM Motorsports to run full-time in the K&N Pro Series East as well as select ARCA races throughout the season with the organization.

He will also run in several high-profile Super Late Model races with Fury Racing, beginning with SpeedFest 2017 later this month at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Ga.

Burton’s six-race Truck series deal with Kyle Busch Motorsports was announced last month.  

“The more races I can get in, the happier I’ll be. It’s what I really want to be spending my time doing,” Burton told Motorsport.com. “I think if everything falls into place, I could end up racing more than I did last year, and I raced a ton.”

He is particularly looking forward to running another full schedule in K&N East, where he finished seventh in the series standings in 2016 in his rookie season with one top-five and five top-10 finishes.

“I was disappointed with my performance and our luck last year. I think I can do far better than that and I really want to win a championship,” Burton said. “I think it was really a rough season for me and my team last year, but I believe my luck is ready to turn around.

“I really wanted to have the opportunity at another shot at bringing home that hardware.”

Burton, who late last year signed a multi-year representation agreement with KHI Management, will continue his sponsorship relationship with DEX Imaging, which will sponsor four of his Truck races and his K&N Pro Series East campaign.

Additional sponsors involved in Burton’s schedule this season include Hunt Brothers Pizza, Morton Buildings, Toyota, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and Rheem Manufacturing.

Burton, who attends the Cannon School in Concord, N.C., said it’s difficult sometimes to focus on his schoolwork as well as his likely professional career, but he also knows it’s necessary.

“You want to spend all your time with racing but that’s not all that there is in life,” he said. “It’s tough sometimes for me to find that balance. Racing is something that you have to be 150-percent committed to, to get to the highest level.”

Burton was named to the 11-member 2016-17 NASCAR Next class, an industry-wide initiative designed to spotlight rising young stars in racing.