The race started with Harrison Burton on the pole for the first time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career and ended with his career-best third-place finish in the series. And in between, there was some adversity for the 17-year-old driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to overcome in Saturday’s M&M’s 200 at Iowa Speedway.
The pole position was the first in 10 Truck Series starts for the son of 21-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner and NASCAR on NBC analyst Jeff Burton. The younger Burton led the first 30 laps of the race — his first laps out front in the series — and finished Stage 1 in third. However, a throttle issue under the caution triggered by the stage break after Lap 60 brought the driver down pit road while it was closed resulting in a penalty that saw him have to start at the tail end of the field. The 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion owned up to the mistake after the race.
RELATED: Full race results | See the thrilling finish at Iowa | Race recap
“I made a mistake and didn’t know how to reset the car once it was turned off, the ECU — the computer,” Burton said after the race.
The elements also made for a factor as it was a hot day into night at the 0.875-mile track in Newton, Iowa. That was further complicated by a cool box that Burton said “wasn’t working very well. It was more of a hot box.”
The Huntersville, North Carolina, native proceeded to drive up to sixth by the end of Stage 2 on Lap 120 and late in the race, found himself in position to capitalize should eventual race winner Brett Moffitt or teammate Noah Gragson slip up or get into each other. That position also gave Burton a pretty good view of a fantastic finish.
“I was trying all I could to make something happen,” Burton said. “I kind of had the same idea Noah did. I was just further back. That’s what it’s all about right there. The ability to say ‘I don’t care if I hit the wall, I’m going to try and win this race.’ That’s something that you can’t teach. Hats off to Noah for trying it. It reminded me of Carl Edwards back in the day.”
All said, though, the third-place finish was Burton’s second top five of the year and third top 10 in as many starts. He said he will not be back behind the wheel for KBM until the Bristol race on Thursday, Aug. 16.
“I’m proud of our effort,” Burton said. “We had a great truck all weekend. I thought this was ours to lose and I lost it, so I’ll move on, get better, and see what we’ve got next time. I’m excited.”