Pressure mounting for KBM youth movement to develop

Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton conceded they feel a lot of pressure to win driving a pair of the best trucks in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series this year. However, they maintain, the pressure is from within. … not necessarily with their superstar team owner Kyle Busch, who has been vocal in urging his young proteges along. The 18-year old Burton, son of retired NASCAR star Jeff Burton, has four top-10 and six top-11 finishes through the opening eight races of the year driving the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.  His best finish is a third place at Dover and he’s ranked ninth in the championship. The 19-year old Gilliland, son of NASCAR star David Gilliland, has four top-10 finishes in the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota truck, including a best of third place at Kansas two races ago. He’s ranked eighth in the championship standings. He finished fourth in the truck race here last fall – a best ever showing in Fort Worth. RELATED: Triple Truck Challenge starts this weekend | KBM shuffles crew chiefs Burton told reporters Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway in advance of Friday night’s SpeedyCash400.com that he completely understands his owner Busch’s frustrations at the two – who tangled together in the Daytona season-opener. But he also understands and appreciates where Busch is coming from. He recognizes that to be a better driver you have to ask for advice and be open to criticism. And always learning. “At this level of the sport, you have to be very pro-active especially at a young age,’’ Burton said. “You have to ask a lot of questions. “You have to make it happen in a short amount of time and it’s tough,’’ Burton explained. “If it were easy, everyone would do it. If there weren’t times like this everyone would be a seven-time champion. “It’s about who comes through these times, gets motivated by these and starts kicking butt again basically. That’s my mindset anyway.’’