It takes great skill to get an average car spinning. There have been drivers in the past who have won races in cars that other drivers just couldn’t imagine taking to victory lanes. And that’s kind of what distinguishes these drivers from the average ones. But in general, drivers do need to strike a connection with the cars they drive. Such is the case with Harrison Burton, as believed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

According to him, the 23-year-old never got a chance to display his full potential due to the unpredictability of Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Given his skills, he deserved a better car that could offer him greater chances of winning than what he received at JGR or even Wood Brothers Racing.

What is the problem with JGR cars?

It takes a lot of good training and adequate equipment to polish race car drivers. Some flourish right away, while others take their time. And the blame could not be put on the driver’s shoulders because they made it to this point with their talent. A balance often needs to be struck between the equipment and the driver’s temperament.

Talking about the drivers who have been able to perform in Joe Gibbs’ cars, Junior said on the August 28 episode of Dale Jr Download, “I think they’ve got a couple of good drivers in their cars, and they don’t dominate, right? Only a couple of people would get in the Gibbs car and dominate – Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs, for the most part. Denny Hamlin, somewhat.”

Considering that Ty Gibbs bagged an Xfinity Championship in his very first full-time Xfinity season in 2022, he should have been in the top-5, which he’s not. Instead, he’s 10th in the standings with 0 wins this year. Then Denny Hamlin has had his own set of misfortunes this year. Despite being a regular contender for race wins (and the regular season championship), an L2 penalty saw him lose 72 points, dropping him to 8th. Christopher Bell is in 6th but still not in contention for the championship. So JGR has good cars, but probably not the best out there. 

Kyle Busch absolutely dominated Xfinity while driving for Joe Gibbs, registering 90 wins with the team out of his 103 total wins in the series. This is a milestone that no other driver has achieved in Xfinity or at Joe Gibbs. He won 62 races and two Cup Series championships with JGR. So, he can easily be counted as a JGR exception with these impeccable feats.

But Harrison Burton could only register four wins in his three-year career with JGR at Xfinity. However, he did make it to the playoffs back-to-back in 2020 & 2021. So, assuming he is a good driver, there must be some other problem that kept him from winning the championship. And his underwhelming Xfinity performance could be the reason why he did not attract the dominating teams for his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2022.

And now, after three years that he is on the brink of getting replaced in the #21 car, he has clinched an important victory and secured a spot in the Playoffs for the first time. Does this mean he could also secure a seat for the 2025 season?

There are a lot of variables in racing

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If we take the case of Kyle Busch, he had been struggling with Richard Childress Racing the entire season. He sometimes blamed the next gen cars and other times complained about a lack of speed. The bottom line was that he couldn’t get the wins. So, RCR made it a point to build him the car he needed to reach where he wanted to be. And once they had that car, he immediately started giving results.

A similar logic applies to Harrison Burton. He was in a car provided by Roger Penske and a new WBR leadership. So, if he couldn’t register wins, that is not his lone burden. And Dale Jr. agrees: “I think that I watched that #21 car closer than I think a lot of people might…and it’s been a tough year.” If we look at NASCAR standings, only one of Team Penske’s Ford was in the Playoffs before Burton won the Daytona race.

So, the team had to understand what he needed for better finishes. Burton’s name has been etched in WBR’s history to have won its long-awaited 100th victory. If he has what it takes to win, he needs to find a team that will give it all to get him to victory lanes. “Harrison outruns or runs with anyone else really that’s gotten that equipment.”, asserts Dale Jr.

Burton could very well be an underdog who needs to be found by a good team. Once he finds the right fit, he could prove everyone who has been against his 2024 Playoffs eligibility wrong.