Harrison Burton has chance at NASCAR history
If Harrison Burton finds Victory Lane in the GEICO 500 Sunday, he will become the seventh driver in the history of NASCAR’s premier series to win in their debut.
Burton will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Talladega Superspeedway, looking to become the first driver to win in his first start in over 58 years.
Burton, a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will be racing the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing entry, running for Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
Burton will start the race 39th.
Six drivers have won in their Cup Series debut, according to statistics across two racing databases.
The feat was accomplished five times across NASCAR’s first three seasons; twice in 1949 and 1950, and once in 1951.
The last driver to record a victory in their debut was Johnny Rutherford in February of 1963, winning in a Daytona 500 qualifier race.
Live television coverage of the GEICO 500 will be on FOX Sunday (April 25) at 2 p.m. E.T.
DRIVERS WHO WON IN THEIR DEBUT
Jim Roper (Charlotte Speedway, 1949)
Jack White (Hamburg Speedway, 1949)
Harold Kite (Beach & Road Course, 1950)
Leon Sales (North Wilkesboro Speedway, 1950)
Marvin Burke (Oakland Stadium, 1951)
Johnny Rutherford (Daytona International Speedway, 1963)
SOURCES
mcubed.net/nascar/
Racing-Reference.info
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.