“It hurts that we’re in this position”: Jon Wood expresses bittersweet feelings on replacing Harrison Burton for 2025

Wood Brothers Racing's Jon Wood, who currently serves as the President of the Mooresville, North Carolina-based outfit, recently opened up on replacing Harrison Burton in the No. 21 car. Wood said that letting Burton go has not been the easiest decision to make.

Wood Brothers Racing announced in July that Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Josh Berry, would be filling Harrison Burton's seat in 2025. Burton joined Wood Brothers Racing in 2022, the same year NASCAR unveiled the NextGen car.

However, Burton has not been able to win a single race until the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in August, which was also the team's 100th win in the Cup Series. Still, the team will have to say goodbye to the 23-year-old speedster next year.

"The thing about Harrison; there's not a nicer guy," Wood said of Burton in the latest episode of the 'Door Bumper Clear' podcast. "I don't see him as a driver. I see drivers a lot of times as guys that won't return your calls, text messages, you can't ask 'em to do anything, you tell them 'happy birthday', they don't tell you 'Happy Birthday'. You do for them, they don't do for you, but it's the opposite with him."

"So it hurts that we're in this position where we had to replace him," Wood continued. "But drivers signed up for it. You get all the credit, you get all the glory but you get all the blame. I think he understands that. We're not bad people for doing this."

Burton is qualified for this year's playoffs and will start his engine in the Round of 16 opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8th. Fans can watch him in action live on NBC Sports and USA from 3 PM ET onwards.

Harrison Burton holding talks with unexpected NASCAR team

Harrison Burton has not made an official announcement about his plans for the upcoming season. However, in a statement reported by The Daily Downforce, Burton told NASCAR,

"I think I’ll be a race-car driver next year, so that’s great. I don’t know where exactly, or what series. I don’t know. I think it’s all fluid."

"I feel like (I’m getting) close to where I feel good about a couple things. I feel like I’m in a place now where the places I’m going to go in the future want me and genuinely want me as a race car driver to go and help them try to win races," he added.

The Huntersville native is reportedly talking to Kaulig Racing about a potential Cup ride next year. Per Motorsports Wire, Kaulig Racing President Chris Rice has confirmed the news in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The team is yet to find a driver for the No. 16 Xfinity car. Furthermore, with Daniel Hemric not returning behind the No. 31 machine in 2025, it would be interesting to see where Burton lands.