NASCAR Next’s Harrison Burton making ARCA debut this weekend

Harrison Burton, the son of former Sprint Cup driver and NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton, will be the latest NASCAR Next member to make their ARCA Racing Series debut this weekend.

Burton, 15, will compete for Ranier Racing with MDM in Saturday’s ARCA 150 at Iowa Speedway. He will drive the No. 8 DEX Imaging car. Serving as his teammate will be former NASCAR Next member Kyle Benjamin.

Burton follows NASCAR Next members Ty Majeski and Nicole Behar who made their ARCA debuts last month at Madison International Speedway.

“I’m super excited to have the opportunity to run my first ARCA race with RRWMDM,” Burton said in a press release. “It’s going to be a learning experience for me. I will be learning a new car, team and race track, but I am nothing but confident that the guys at the shop and the team at the race track will give me an excellent car. I am looking forward to the weekend.”

Burton, who will also make his Camping World Truck Series debut in October at Martinsville Speedway, is currently competing in the K&N Pro Series East with HScott Motorsports. Through eight races in 2016, Burton is ninth in points with one top five and two top 10s.

NASCAR Next alumni Nicole Behar making ARCA debut

Nicole Behar, who was a member of the 2015-16 NASCAR Next class, will make her ARCA Series debut this weekend at Madison International Speedway.

The 18-year-old driver from Spokane, Washington, will make the start in the Montgomery Ward Fathers Day 200 for  Venturini Motorsports.

Behar is making her ARCA debut after one full season in the K&N Pro Series West, where she drove for a family owned team. Behar is tied for the best result ever by a female driver after finishing second at Irwindale Event Center.

She’s made one start this season in the CARS Super Late Model Tour while also competing in the NorthWest Super Late Model Series.

“ARCA is the next logical step for sure,” Behar said in a press release. “Venturini Motorsports is a great team that has the knowledge and experience to help me get where I want to be. Hopefully, we can come out this weekend with a good finish. It’s only one race so far.”

Madison might be the best place for Behar to debut with Venturini Motorsports. The team has won three of the first four races at the half-mile track, winning with Alex Bowman,Justin Boston and Kyle Benjamin.

“It’d be great to win, but if we could come out with a top-10 that’d be great,” Behar said. “Everyone wants to win but we all know it’s not that simple.”

This weekend will also be the first time Behar will experience live pit stops in a race.

“I’m hoping to get some pit stop practice in before the race,” Behar said. “My dad’s dragging our K&N car in a Toterhome to Madison so I can hopefully practice with a heavy stock car on that track.”

MORE: Nicole Behar’s NASCAR Next Q&A