Burton wins in Earnhardt’s return
MIAMI — A late caution flag gave Harrison Burton new life, and he took advantage.
Burton, from South Boston, took the inside line on the way to the lead on 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 — the19-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.”
It was shaping up to be a runaway, with Gragson leading by more than 10 seconds before a caution came out with about seven laps remaining. But he couldn’t recapture that magic on the restart, and what would have been his third win of the season quickly slipped away.
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.
Earnhardt was winless in 17 Cup Series starts at Homestead in his career, with only one finish better than 10th in those. He’d also raced there five times in the Xfinity Series, placing second in1999 for his best finish. Either way, Saturday was a memorable day for Earnhardt.
Tuesday might become considerably more memorable.
He’s one of 15 nominees for the 2021 class that will go into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The votes have been cast, with results scheduled to be revealed Tuesday afternoon. Earnhardt said he will document how he gets the call — if he’s in or not — on his popular podcast.