Junior returns; Burton wins race
MIAMI » A late caution flag gave Harrison Burton new life, and he took advantage.
Burton took the inside line on the way to the lead in the final lap, and held on to win the Xfinity Series race Saturday at HomesteadMiami Speedway — denying, among others, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Noah Gragson, who seemed to be in full command with seven laps remaining.
Burton, Gragson and Austin Cindric were three-wide going into that last lap, and it was Burton — the 19-year-old son of former Cup star Jeff Burton, who wound up in front in a wild finish.
“Omg !!!!!! What a bad assss restart,” Burton’s mother, Kim, tweeted. “You are the damn man kid !!!! I love you.”
Cindric was second and Gragson third, two spots ahead of Earnhardt — part of his JR Motorsports ownership.
“I don’t know what I was doing, either, honestly,” Burton said of the three-wide fight going into that final lap. “What a race.”
Burton became the youngest driver to win a series race at Homestead. Cindric, the son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, got his fifth top-five finish of the season but is still looking for his first win of 2020.
It was Earnhardt’s third Xfinity Series appearance since retiring as a full-time Cup Series driver in 2017. He’s been top-five in all three of those cameos, and was sitting second behind only Gragson when that late flag came out.
“I was rusty, all the way through,” Earnhardt said.
Talking on his radio while taking pace laps Saturday before the race started, Earnhardt somewhat comically revealed that he was anxious about being behind the wheel again.
“There ought to be something in the rule book to keep this from happening,” Earnhardt said. “I haven’t been in a race car since Darlington last year. I’ve got no laps. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’ve been nervous as hell for a week.”
It didn’t show. He was right there, all the way to the end.