Early years Burton's racing career started off when he received a
go-kart at age two, which later turned into a
quarter midget at age four. After starting to race them at age twelve, Burton won his first
late model race in early 2014. His first
super late model win came in early 2015, at
New Smyrna Speedway. He was also for three years a USAC quarter midget championship. At the age of eleven, he grabbed his first
late model pole at
Ace Speedway, and at twelve won two races in pro late models.
CARS Super Late Model Tour The
Charlotte, North Carolina native made his CARS debut in 2015, running six of the series' ten races. Finishing only two of those races, he finished third at
Southern National Motorsports Park and fourth at
Concord Speedway. In the middle of that season, the team switched car bodies and crew chiefs, hiring former
Xfinity Series driver
Chris Wimmer. Switching his focus to the
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, he only ran three of eight races in 2016, recording two top ten finishes.
ARCA Menards Series In his
ARCA Racing Series debut for
Ranier Racing with MDM, Burton started sixth and finished third after almost being spun out by eventual race winner
Chase Briscoe. Returning in 2017 with
MDM Motorsports, Burton chased down
Dalton Sargeant on the final run of the race at
Toledo Speedway to win in only his second series start. He later won in his superspeedway debut, which came at
Pocono Raceway in 2018. Burton dedicated the win to
John Andretti, who was battling colon cancer until his death in 2020. On January 8, 2018, it was announced that Burton would run a partial ARCA schedule with MDM in 2018. On January 10, 2019, it was announced that Burton would drive the
Venturini Motorsports No. 20 Toyota for five races in 2019. Burton won on his superspeedway debut at Daytona.
K&N Pro Series East Starting with the
2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener at New Smyrna, Burton became the youngest driver to start a race in the series. He also garnered a full-time ride from
HScott Motorsports using their Toyotas. Throughout the thirteen-race season, Burton garnered one pole, as many top fives, and finished eighth in the championship point standings while failing to finish two races. After
HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks shut down, Burton moved to
MDM Motorsports bringing his number and sponsor. He also signed an extension with
Kevin Harvick Incorporated to bring in sponsors like DEX Imaging,
Hunt Brothers Pizza,
Rheem and others. Early in the season, Burton made waves by campaigning a paint scheme with the number on the rear quarter panels. His performance also gained attention, winning a rain-shortened race at
Bristol. He then outlasted the field at
Memphis the following race after
Todd Gilliland had a flat tire. He went on to win five of fourteen races that season and beat Gilliland for the championship after making up an eight-point deficit going into the final race. On January 8, 2018, it was announced that Burton would drive a partial K&N season with MDM in 2018. He showed speed early, cracking the top ten in practice, but faltered during the race and finished one lap down in 22nd. In this race, Burton and
Kyle Donahue (who was driving the No. 63 for
MB Motorsports) made history as the first drivers born in the 2000s decade and the 21st century to compete in the Truck Series and in any NASCAR national series. Burton signed with Kyle Busch Motorsports to run both
Martinsville races, as well as
Dover,
Iowa,
Eldora, and
Bristol in the No. 51 Toyota Tundra in 2017. He finished all of the races but only scored one top-ten, a fourth-place at Martinsville in fall. On January 8, 2018, it was announced that Burton would again pilot the KBM No. 51 for a partial schedule. The nine-race schedule included mostly short tracks but also
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and all of the races after he turned eighteen. Burton grabbed his first pole in the
M&M's 200, and finished third after dealing with throttle issues during the race. He won his first stage in NASCAR competition at
ISM Raceway in November en route to another third-place finish. On November 14, 2018, it was announced that Burton would run full-time in 2019, replacing
Noah Gragson in KBM's No. 18 entry. Burton would return to truck series competition in 2022, driving in a one-off race for
David Gilliland Racing at the
2022 Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt.
Xfinity Series in 2020 On April 1, 2019,
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Burton would drive the team's No. 18
Toyota Supra in the
NASCAR Xfinity Series for eight races starting with the
Alsco 300 at
Bristol Motor Speedway five days later. In his third race of the year at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Burton was intentionally wrecked by
Paul Menard after Burton passed Menard with contact. Menard thought the incident was a teaching moment not to race dirty, while Burton was of the viewpoint that getting passed was not grounds for being wrecked. On October 17, 2019, with
Christopher Bell moving up to the
NASCAR Cup Series, JGR announced Burton would replace him in the No. 20 Supra for the
2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. On February 29, 2020, Burton earned his first career Xfinity Series win at
Auto Club Speedway after holding off teammate
Riley Herbst; the win made him and father
Jeff Burton the only son-and-father duo to ever win at
Auto Club and the second driver to ever win on
Leap Day with the first being his uncle
Ward Burton at
Rockingham Speedway in
1992. This also made Burton the first driver born in the 2000s to win in the Xfinity Series. He qualified for the Xfinity Series playoffs after scoring two wins in the regular season, but was eliminated after the first round. He later passed
Noah Gragson in the final set of corners at
Texas Motor Speedway to grab a late-season post-elimination win. A week later, Harrison would go on to win again at Martinsville Speedway during the Draft Top 250. Burton returned to JGR for a second straight year in 2021. He advanced one round further in the playoffs but went winless, once again finishing 8th in the point standings.
Cup Series in 2022 On April 15, 2021,
Gaunt Brothers Racing announced that Burton would make his Cup Series debut with the team in their No. 96 Toyota in
the race at
Talladega that month, with his Xfinity Series sponsor, DEX Imaging, as the sponsor. In this race, Burton would become the first driver born in the 2000s decade to run a Cup Series race. On July 15, 2021, Burton was named the driver of
Wood Brothers Racing's No. 21
Ford Mustang for the 2022 season, replacing
Matt DiBenedetto. Burton led three laps in his full-time debut at the
2022 Daytona 500, but flipped during a multi-car accident on lap 63 and finished 39th. A few months later, at
Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 10, 2022, Burton led seven laps and recorded his first career Cup Series top-ten result with a tenth-place outcome. Shortly afterward, Burton bested his Atlanta result with a 3rd place finish at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 31, 2022. Burton began the
2023 season with a 26th-place finish at the
2023 Daytona 500. Poor finishes plagued the No. 21 team, with Burton only scoring two top-ten finishes through the entire season. He would go on to finish 31st in the final points standings. Burton started the
2024 season with a 39th-place DNF at the
2024 Daytona 500. His best finish in the season was tenth at
Talladega. On July 3, it was announced that
Josh Berry would replace Burton in the No. 21 in
2025. At the
Daytona summer race, Burton beat out
Kyle Busch by 0.047 seconds and scored his first career Cup Series win with his father Jeff in the booth. His win was also the 100th Cup Series win for the Wood Brothers and their first win since
Ryan Blaney at
Pocono in 2017. His win also secured him a spot in the playoffs for the first time in his Cup career. Unfortunately, he was eliminated from the playoffs at the conclusion of the Round of 16. Overall, Burton finished sixteenth in the standings, having scored just two top tens across the entire season. His average finish of 25.7 proved to be the lowest of all full-time Cup Series drivers in 2024, as well as the lowest average finish of Burton's Cup career. On May 12, 2025,
Rick Ware Racing announced that Burton would drive their No. 51 car in the
2025 NASCAR All-Star Race, as his win at the 2024 Daytona summer race qualified him for the exhibition race for the first time in his career.
Cody Ware, the driver normally in the No. 51, switched to the No. 15 for the All-Star Open. Burton finished twentieth out of 23 participants. In
2026, Burton became the reserve driver for
Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series. He was almost needed to finish the race at
Circuit of the Americas in the No. 43 car in place of
Erik Jones when he was not feeling well but Jones was able to finish the race. Burton stayed consistent throughout the regular season with nine top tens, and gave
AM Racing their first playoff appearance. He was eliminated from the playoffs at the conclusion of the Round of 12. On October 8, it was announced that Burton and AM will part ways after the season. in 2026 On October 25,
Sam Hunt Racing announced that Burton will drive the team's No. 24
Toyota GR Supra full-time in the
2026 season.
IMSA Harrison Burton has also competed in the IMSA competition through Ford Motor Company's recent drive to train new competitors through their sports car program. With only a handful of starts, Burton, with
Zane Smith, won the 2023 Daytona 4-hour race opener of IMSA’s
Michelin Pilot Challenge calendar by 0.688 seconds. ==Personal life==