Daytona rarely tells the same story twice. In 2020, Noah Gragson’s Xfinity win came after relentless side-drafts and a last-lap scramble that left half the field mangled. According to him, he followed Dale Earnhardt Jr’s advice, “Treat every Superspeedway race like it’s a rental Go-Kart race.” But Denny Hamlin may disagree or leave it to speculation. Because the next day’s Daytona 500 played out in an entirely different rhythm, where pit cycles, long green-flag runs, and late-race positioning shaped Hamlin’s victory. Same track, two races, yet completely different rulebooks for survival. 

That gap between chaos and calculation defines the upcoming Daytona weekend. Xfinity packs swarm with unpredictability, where momentum shifts lap to lap, while the Cup Series often rewards patience and control at the front. For drivers who have strapped into both machines, like Harrison Burton, the contrast isn’t subtle, and Burton explained why that is the case.

Xfinity car chaotic, Cup is more controlled

On the NASCAR Live podcast with Steve Post, Harrison Burton explained the major differences between driving an Xfinity car at Daytona vs the Cup car. According to him, Daytona in the Xfinity Series feels like nonstop combat. He described how “the Xfinity cars don’t handle that good; it’s a bit harder to control the race. You just have to be really on your toes … you can’t settle in anywhere,” he said, making every lap a battle just to maintain track position. With unpredictable runs forming throughout the pack, Burton cited his initial Daytona Xfinity start as evidence of how swiftly races can change course. Drivers are forced to remain in attack mode for the entire duration of the race due to the cars’ instability and aggressive drafting. This is in sheer contrast to the Cup car.

The Cup Series presents a different picture. Strategy doesn’t help until the final laps, when the field thins down and mayhem is unavoidable. Burton emphasized that “the Cup car handles it a little bit better,” crediting the aero package and camber setup for giving leaders more control. That stability changes the race flow, allowing frontrunners to dictate pace and use tactics like fuel saving to manage their position. “Once you get up front there, it’s easier to control the race,” he noted.

Cup requires equilibrium, understanding when to push and when to conserve, as opposed to continuous reactive racing in the Xfinity races. Although runs usually start more aggressively, the field frequently extends into lengthier sequences where timing becomes more important than outright aggression. Burton concluded by emphasizing that although Daytona’s stage is shared by both series, they require completely distinct mentalities. Cup encourages careful control, whereas Xfinity rewards uncompromising survival. “Both are very fun, both are very challenging,” he said, but the contrasts are sharp enough to make the same 2.5 miles feel like two separate battlegrounds.

Burton’s Iowa top-5 finish takes a major step towards the playoffs

After the NASCAR Xfinity Series season race at Iowa Speedway, Harrison Burton, starting 17th, scored five stage points, spent all 250 laps inside the top 15, recorded a season-best average running position of eighth, and brought his No. 25 Ford home in fifth for his second top five of the year. “Throughout the entire day, (had) a top-10 car, probably a seventh- or eighth-place car all day, had a strength to the field, like I could fire off better than most of the field (on restarts), and I had a weakness where I would fall off (on long runs). But with the strength, I could go be aggressive, get after it, restart well,” he said post-race.

Burton and Jesse Love Jr. were engaged in a heated duel for the runner-up position during the final restart with 17 laps remaining. By the time the checkered flag was raised, Burton had fallen to fifth place. In the competition for the final Xfinity playoff slot, Burton now leads Ryan Sieg by 38 points and his cousin Jeb Burton by 30.

The Burton cousins are in a head-to-head for the playoff spot entering Daytona this weekend. Speaking about their rivalry, Harrison Burton said, “We’ve gained each other’s respect in the way that we treat each other. The way we race each other, we race hard, but we race fair to each other. And I think he and I can both expect that out of each other.”

Burton sits just above the cutoff line, and this position marks his best in months, but with four races left in the regular season, he knows the battle is far from over. Now with Daytona approaching and the playoff bubble waiting to be snatched, he must apply the Xfinity strategies that the superspeedway demands.