By Cole Cusumano

Following Harrison Burton’s first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in February at Auto Club Speedway, the 19-year-old made comments in a post-race press conference he believed Joe Gibbs Racing could be the next ‘Big Three.’ This statement came fresh off a hard fought battle with teammates Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst, who all had a shot at the win in Fontana.

Now riding an astounding nine-race top-10 streak that traces all the way back to last season, Burton is setting the standard for the Xfinity Series. In a teleconference leading up to the next event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 20 reiterated his claims made earlier in the year about the Gibbs trio’s ability to follow in the footsteps of Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer.

“We are not far away,” Burton told POPULAR SPEED. “I think Riley (Herbst) has been fast very often and has had situations where he hasn’t finished where he has run, or you go to Brandon. He had a chance to win in California – when I got a win. He goes and beats Kyle Busch in Phoenix (Raceway). Things like that our team is doing well.”

At this point last season, the ‘Big Three’ won three races. While only one shy of that record in 2020, it’s drivers like Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson — who both have two wins each — that are making things challenging for the young Toyota drivers. 

“I think we are missing just that little bit of consistency where, ‘hey, all three of us are in the top five every week,’” Burton said. “That’s obviously the goal that’s way up here – to have three cars in the top five every weekend, but that is what the ‘Big Three’ was last year. Those guys were up there every single week. They were always fast.”

As the driver who ranks third in the standing noted, it’s not that the speed hasn’t been there. It’s more so having the luck and persistence to string together a complete race. Having said that, the pilot of the DEX Imaging Camry is confident in his teammates ability to turn things around.

“That’s what I know we are capable of,” Burton reiterated. “Everyone here has the ability to do that, and I think that’s what our goals are – is to race each other for the win every weekend hopefully, not be mad at each other in the Monday morning meetings afterwards.”

With lots of racing left to go in the 2020 season, it’s still a possibility these comments made by the 19-year-old can come to fruition. Having said that, maybe it’s not too premature to say that at the very least, Burton can be a part of this next-gen ‘Big Three’ alongside Briscoe and Gragson.