Lacrosse, fantasy football and high school: Harrison Burton's path to NASCAR playoffs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Already a top NASCAR prospect when he was in high school at Cannon in Concord, N.C., Harrison Burton wanted to be involved.

Burton, now 23 and in the Cup Series playoffs for the first time, played lacrosse when growing up in Huntersville. He has a big group of buddies from the Cannon School who are now living all over the country after college, and they drafted their fantasy football league as a dynasty for the first time earlier this year.

To all those guys, he’s just “Harrison.”

While Burton — the son of Jeff, and nephew of Ward — has been racing since he got a quarter midget for Christmas at age 4, his friends didn’t think of him as a race car driver.

“I got picked on just like everyone else,” Burton said with a laugh. “It was just a normal high school experience. It was really fun and important for me to have.”

Dad was tough on Harrison early in his racing career

Harrison begged his parents to let him race.

Jeff Burton, nicknamed “The Mayor” of the sport, used to make his son sit inside his race car basking in the heat and not climb out for hours. It almost felt mean to Harrison — in a good way, as it made him realize how much he wanted to work.

His father understood how taxing this sport could be, and wanted to make sure his son really loved racing. And as much as Harrison grew to appreciate the sport in which he now competes at its highest level, it helped him realize his place in the world beyond racing.

“Enough to the point where my grandpa — who’s, in my eyes, the toughest guy in the world as a Vietnam vet — was like, ‘You’re being tough on the kid over here,’ ” Burton said Wednesday at playoff media day inside the Charlotte Convention Center. “When he said that, I was like, ‘That’s bad.’ I know my dad has been rough on me.

“I will say: When I was a kid, that was kind of tough. But now, looking back having gone through the things I have, that stuff is invaluable. Going through those hard times. Being forced to be uncomfortable the way I was made me handle the situations I’ve been through — good and bad — the right way. And I just owe a lot of that to my parents.”

Passion for lacrosse

Harrison joked that he’s quite the “average” lacrosse player.

When he first started playing the sport, he was involved in an indoor league and played attack for his first few games. Harrison took some big hits right away, and he remembers his helmet coming off his head and flying in the opposite direction as he would fall.

It made him switch to defense.

He liked the idea of doing the hitting, instead of being one getting hit. His teammates ended up naming him their most improved player, “which normally means you sucked really bad and got average,” Harrison said with a smile.

“I loved it, though, I loved playing lacrosse,” he said. “It was super fun. Such a good sport — I still watch college lacrosse. It’s fun to get into. It’s a lot like NASCAR. When you understand the sport, it’s such a fun game to watch, but it’s hard for someone who’s never done it to pick it up and understand.”

‘Normally, no one even recognizes me’

Harrison Burton, who pilots the famed No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, still doesn’t have a ride next year.

It’ll be Josh Berry who is set to take over his spot. Burton recently said he’s optimistic about his future in a NASCAR national series but didn’t announce any specific plans.

Burton scored his first career Cup Series victory at Daytona on Aug. 24 — which marked win No. 100 for Wood Brothers — to reach the playoffs.

As exciting as the celebration has been, he hasn’t had time to enjoy it. His mind was already on Darlington, and now, his thoughts are focused on the opening postseason race, Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.

“I am also a little bit of a shy dude, so it’s a lot of cameras on me,” Burton said. “Getting used to that has been kind of fun. But definitely after Daytona, walking through the garage at Darlington, I had fans running up to me. Normally, no one even recognizes me.

“I had race team members from other teams giving me congratulations, which was really cool. I walked past the 8 car, and half their guys gave me fist bumps. It’s just cool.”