January 30, 2024

Harrison Burton has had a lackluster start to his NASCAR Cup Series career thus far, but at age 23, he's still young enough that he could unexpectedly make a sudden improvement at any point, although that still seems unlikely. The driver who technically drives for the Wood Brothers but drives for what amounts to a de facto fourth Penske car swapped crew chiefs with Austin Cindric entering the 2023 Playoffs, with Brian Wilson going to Cindric and Jeremy Bullins coming over to Burton. Even though most people expect the new Ford Mustangs to be faster in 2024 than the old Mustangs were in 2023, Burton's history indicates he needs a really strong crew chief to succeed. His four-win Xfinity season came with crew chief Ben Beshore, who just posted a substantially better season with John Hunter Nemechek last year. His ARCA East championship came with crew chief Mardy Lindley, who just likewise had a breakout Xfinity season with Sam Mayer in 2023. Although Jeremy Bullins did get Cindric his Daytona 500 win, both Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney performed better with other crew chiefs and Bullins doesn't seem to be an elite enough chief to elevate a driver as mediocre as Burton. Don't expect much improvement in performance for him in 2024.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller