Here's why this champion is prohibited from racing in any of NASCAR's major series


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uSPHQdw00s

At just 17 years of age, Harrison Burton already appears ready to take over a full-time ride in the Camping World Truck Series. There's only one problem though; NASCAR won't allow it to happen.

The reason is because of NASCAR's age limits. The sport requires drivers to be at least 18 years old to compete full-time in Cup, XFINITY or Trucks. The loophole is the Truck Series allows drivers as young as 16 to race, but only at tracks 1.25 miles or shorter, as well as at road courses.

Burton made his debut in the Truck Series last year at Martinsville when he was 16 years old. He finished that race 22nd and even ran inside the top-10 before being spun out by another driver. Burton competed again in the Truck Series earlier this year at Martinsville and came in 13th.

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However, Burton has added a rather prestigious trophy to his collection since then. On Sept. 29th. Burton was crowned NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion after finishing first at Dover.

It now seems like Burton is stuck in limbo. He's already won a title in the only NASCAR series he's currently allowed to race in full-time, but he's still too young to take the next step to either the Truck or XFINITY Series.

In the meantime, Burton plans to run a similar schedule in 2018 as what he did this year, which consists of NASCAR East, ARCA, Truck Series, and late model races.

Nevertheless, Burton's only focus this weekend is winning the Truck Series race in Martinsville in the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. If he wins the race, he'll earn a grandfather clock similar to the won his father--Jeff--did when he won a Cup Series event at the Virginia track in 1997.

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"I have a long way to go if I want to race every Sunday, so I got to learn as much as I can as fast as I can," Harrison Burton said, according to Motorsport.com. "I used to be a 14-year-old kid with a long, a long time to go before I even had to think about that stuff and had a long time to learn, but now the time's coming, you know."

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