(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the first time in three years, Joe Gibbs Racing is entering an Xfinity Series season without a proven winner guaranteed to contend for the championship.
Brandon Jones will be back for his fifth full year in NASCAR’s second tour, where he’ll try to replicate his lone series victory from the fall race at Kansas Speedway. Joining him are two rookies that hope to rekindle their careers with the fresh start of a new series.
After partial Xfinity runs in 2019, Harrison Burton and Riley Herbst will each compete full-time for JGR in 2020 after partial runs in 2019.
Burton’s move provides a chance to redeem himself after a winless year in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
The second-generation star put together seven top-fives in 23 races in 2019, but led only 12 laps and failed to make the postseason on points after a regular season that saw surprise winners snag many of the limited playoff spots. Teammate Todd Gilliland broke through late in the year at Martinsville Speedway, but a win proved elusive for Burton.
“Honestly, last year was a disappointment,” Burton told Motorsports Beat at a Toyota media availability. “Obviously the goal was to win a championship, and that didn’t happen. It felt like we had opportunities to win races, but they just kind of fell apart in front of us. That sucked because I felt like every week I was like, ‘man!’
“We would go to the race track and feel like we had a chance to win and something would go wrong – I would make a mistake or we wouldn’t be as fast as we thought we would be. Something would just take it away from us.”
Herbst’s ascent to the Xfinity Series comes despite not having a full year of experience in a NASCAR national series. He completed nearly two full seasons in the ARCA Menards Series in 2017 and ’18, winning one at Pocono Raceway and tallying a best points finish of third in his second year.
The 2019 season saw Herbst run in a mix of tours from the Xfinity level down to Super Late Models in the CARS Tour. He made 12 NASCAR national series starts, with a best finish of third in a Truck race at Talladega Superspeedway.
That means the Nevadan has relatively little experience heading into 2020. But Herbst feels that he’s ready for the ascent.
“I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t think I was ready for it,” Herbst said of the move. “I think there’s definitely gonna be a learning curve. I’m not blinded to that. But I’m definitely ready for the challenges that come with it.
“I’ve surrounded myself with very good people. The best team that there is. We’re going to take these challenges one step at a time and try to capture some checkered flag and trophies.”
Those people Herbst refers to may be the key for Burton and himself to succeed this year.
Jones can offer guidance at the Xfinity level, and along with him are a bevy of NASCAR Cup Series stars within the JGR umbrella that have each had success in NASCAR’s second tour.
Kyle Busch is the winningest driver in the tour’s history. Erik Jones and Christopher Bell have combined for more than 25 race wins in the past five years. Denny Hamlin has won in Xfinity as recently as 2017. Martin Truex Jr. hasn’t ventured down to Xfinity in years but was a two-time series champion during his time in what was then the Busch Series.
Each driver in the group has years of experience to offer, and Herbst claimed that they’re all open to answering questions. With their guidance and the support of one of NASCAR’s top organizations, the rookie duo are each setting their aim high for 2020.
Burton know he needs to close the experience gap. But beyond that, he has one primary goal – win.
“You got to win races to have a job in this sport,” Burton said. “The more you win nowadays, the better your chances are of winning a championship.
“It’s not just consistent finishes. The odds of those getting you to the championship are slimmer than if you go out and win and dominate. So that’s what your goal has to be no matter what your situation is.”
Herbst wants to win as well. But based on his lack of full-time experience, he would be happy to show consistent speed and contend for Rookie of the Year honors.
“It would be successful if we came home with the rookie of the year honors,” Herbst said. “If we look back and can say, ‘Man, we had speed week in, week out.’”
“It’s racing. Sometimes not everything’s going to go your way. But if we look back and we had speed every single week, and especially if we sneak away with a few wins, that’s all going to be a very successful year for us.”
They’ll both get a chance to succeed in an Xfinity Series title race that’s expected to be wide open. The top three performers from last year – Bell, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer – have all moved on to the Cup Series. That means Burton and Herbst will battle with returning drivers like Jones, Justin Allgaier, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric for the chance to make their name and win a NASCAR title.
