Harrison Burton entered Thursday night’s Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway 13 points behind the cutoff line for the final playoff spot in the NASCAR Gander Trucks Series Playoffs with two regular season races remaining, but left Eldora in a must-win situation heading into next week’s regular season finale at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. After getting caught up in the middle of a 14-truck melee halfway through Stage Two, the Safelite Tundra spent 23 laps on pit road getting major damage repair and would finish the race in the 31st position.
Stewart Friesen captured a playoff spot when he became the sixth Gander Trucks Series regular to win in the regular season and playoff contender Matt Crafton distanced himself from Burton in points by finishing in the top 10 of all three stages.
Stage One Recap:
- Burton earned the 11th starting position by finishing third in Qualifying Race 1. When the first caution occurred on lap 14, he had fallen back to the 13th position.
- The 18-year-old driver would gain one position in the closing laps of Stage One to finish 12th.
- He communicated to crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. that the Safelite Tundra was “pretty tight, but the track seems to be getting slicker.”
Stage Two Recap:
- With five trucks ahead of Burton hitting pit road between stages, he would line up seventh when Stage Two went green.
- On lap 56 while running inside the top 10, Burton spun off the exit of Turn 2 and brought out the fourth caution of the race. He didn’t make contact with anything and was able to get the path of the Safelite Tundra going in the right direction in time to remain on the lead lap.
- The second-generation driver would restart 22nd on the ensuing restart on lap 61, but four laps later would get caught up in a 14-truck accident that caused major damage to the front end of his No. 18 Toyota.
- Burton’s crew would spend the next 23 laps on pit road repairing the Safelite Tundra in an effort to get their young back on track in hopes that more trucks would wreck allowing the team to improve their finish.
- The No. 18 returned to the track just before the completion of Stage 2 scored 23 laps down in the 32nd spot.
Final Stage Recap:
- Between stages, Burton brought his Toyota back down pit road for four fresh tires and a full load of fuel.
- Burton was able to drive around at the back of the field for the remainder of the race and with one other competitor pulling off just before the end of Stage 2, he gained one position and ended the event in the 31st spot.
KBM PR
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