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.

Nicole Behar, Ty Majeski earn top-five finishes in ARCA debuts

It was a big weekend two drivers who are former and current members of the NASCAR Next program.

Nicole Behar, a member of the 2015-16 class, and Ty Majeski, a member of the 2016 -17 class, made their debuts in the ARCA Racing Series on Sunday in the Montgomery Ward Father’s Day 200 at Madison International Speedway.

Behar made her one-off start with Venturini Motorsports, which had three of the last four races at the Wisconsin track.

A native of Washington, Behar started third and that’s where she found herself at the end of the 200-lap event. The result was a historic one, as it tied Behar for the best ARCA short track finish for a female driver, matching the result of Patty Simko-Schacht at Toledo Speedway in 1987.

The 18-year-old also had the best result of Venturini Motorsports’ three teams.

“My spotter (Frankie Kimmel) was great today,” Behar said in a team release. “He kept me calm and gave me great information all day long. Reminding me every single lap of the importance of my entry, he really helped me settle in and gain when I needed to gain. I tried to do the best I could to save the car and save my tires today. I was just trying to get as much as I could today. I tried to do the best I could on a tough track with just one racing line today.”

Behar also holds a tie for the best finish by a female driver in the K&N Pro Series West, where she competed last year.

Majeski, a Roush Fenway Racing development driver competing for the Roulo Brothers, came home fourth after qualifying seventh. The Wisconsin-native had been fastest in both of Saturday’s practice sessions and had a caution with 21 laps left derail a charge to the front.

“We had a good solid run. We kept the fenders on for the most part all day,” Majeski told Speed51.com. “The biggest thing I learned today was how to race a big, heavy car. Manage brakes, which is something we don’t have to do a lot on the Late Model, and we had to do that today. I felt like I did a pretty good job at that. I had every bit of race car I needed for the end.”

Roulo Brothers Racing has not yet announced when Majeski will be back in the No. 17 car.

Roush development driver Ty Majeski set for ARCA debut

NASCAR Next alumni Nicole Behar isn’t the only driver making their ARCA Racing Series debut this weekend.

Also in the field of the Montgomery Ward Father’s Day 200 at Madison International Speedway will be Roush Fenway Racing development driver and current NASCAR Next member, Ty Majeski.

Majeski, 21, was announced as the latest Roush development driver in May. He will drive the No. 17 Ford for Roulo Bros. Racing. They also fielded a car for Sprint Cup driverChris Buescher when he was a Roush development driver.

Majeski, a native of Wisconsin, is already a winner at Madison. He won the May 1 ARCA Midwest Tour Joe Shear Classic at the half-mile track.

“We were able to test last week and I felt very comfortable in the car,” Majeski said in a press release. “The goal is to always be competitive and upfront, but I also know there is going to be a learning curve. I am excited to be making my first start.”

When Buescher competed for the Roulo brothers, he won the 10 races and claimed the 2012 ARCA title.

“Madison is a great place for us to be making our first start together,” said Gary Roulo in a press release. “Ty has had a lot of success here in late models, and as a team we won here in 2012 and finished second here in 2011 with Chris Buescher.”