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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
STUART, Virginia (July 15, 2021) – Harrison Burton, second-generation driver and four-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner, will drive the famous No.21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing from 2022, the team announced today. Burton will become the latest driver in a long list of legendary names who drove the No.21 Ford for the woods when he takes over from the 2022 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Austin Cindric, who was previously announced as the driver of Wood Brothers’ # 21 Ford Mustang in 2022, will now join Team Penske to drive the team’s # 2 Mustang, opening the door for Burton to make a jump to the full-time NASCAR Cup Series.
Burton, the son of former NASCAR Cup Series driver and current NBC racing analyst Jeff Burton, has been a mainstay of NASCAR’s lower divisions since joining the Truck Series scene at just 18 in 2019. In 2020 , Burton has won four NASCAR Xfinity Series races (Fontana, Homestead, Texas and Martinsville) en route to a seventh place finish and series Rookie of the Year honors.
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This season, Burton, 20, has five top five and 11 top 10s in 18 races and is fifth in the Xfinity Series points standings.
“Ever since I started racing with midgets, the hope and goal has always been to be a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series,” said Burton. “Now I can do it with one of the most legendary teams in NASCAR history in the Wood Brothers and with an association with Ford Motor Company and Ford Performance. I don’t think I could have dreamed of a better situation to put me at the start of my NASCAR Cup Series career. Add to that the technical alliance with the Penske team and the knowledge that I will gain from working with their drivers and I am really excited for 2022 and the This is a great opportunity for me and I cannot thank Eddie and Len Wood enough for giving me this chance.
Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active NASCAR team and one of the most successful teams in series history. The team currently has 99 wins at the highest level in NASCAR, with figures including David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt and Buddy Baker all visiting Victory Lane with the team. The organization also currently benefits from a technical relationship with Team Penske, which will continue until 2022, with major support from Ford Performance.
Sponsorship of the No.21 will be announced at a later date, but will again include support from Ford Quick Lane and Motorcraft.
“As a team owner, you always want to keep an eye on the future and what is best for your organization in the hopes of setting yourself up for long-term success,” said the president and co-owner of the team, Eddie Wood. “As things have progressed and changed over the past few months we have had the chance to consider what our options are and when we determined that Harrison would be available for our team we wanted to jump on the line. opportunity to work with him. Harrison is young, but comes from a family full of successful racing drivers. The guidance and support they can offer Harrison as he makes this transition will be very important to his success What many of us forget is that he’s not even 21 yet and has only raced in the Truck and Xfinity series for a few years. So when we looked to future and found someone to build our program around, Harrison seemed like a great option. ”
“We are very happy to start working with Harrison and 2022 is the perfect time,” said Len Wood, co-owner of the team. “With the introduction of the new Next Gen car next year, we have the opportunity to grow with him and build our program around what he wants. We don’t mean to say that puts him on a bad foot. Tie, because there are a lot of great drivers in the Cup Series, but having a rookie at the same time as a new car is presented will help us build a strong one and hopefully get off to a good start.
Additional details regarding the 2022 season, including partners, will be announced at a later date.
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