Burton gives Wood Brothers 100th Win at Daytona
Wood Brothers’ driver Harrison Burton began Saturday night’s race in 34th place, the lowest ranking among full-time Cup Series drivers. By the end, he was the Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner at NASCAR’s most iconic track. Not to mention that he gave the Wood Brothers their 100th win with the 21 car, despite that he has not been resigned and will not return to the car in 2025. A more improbable outcome is hard to imagine. But that’s what Daytona is all about—surprises! And they come in all shapes and sizes, including surprise winners, playoff upsets, and lots and lots of carnage.
The summer night race at Daytona is usually the cutoff before the playoffs. But this year, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 drafting race was moved up a week, making the Lady in Black at Darlington Speedway next weekend the deciding factor for this year’s final 16 drivers. But having an extra race in their pockets did not make drivers any less desperate and aggressive. Though Stage 1 raced clean and gave Josh Berry the stage win, it wasn’t without a few nail-biting close calls as drivers jostled for track position.
The intensity quickly ramped up from there, starting with a pit stop gone wrong for Daniel Suarez. Some normal fuel spillage led to a major fire when the exhaust of Hamlin’s #11 car momentarily hovered over it while leaving his pit stall behind Suarez. The fuel quickly ignited and, like a cartoon, followed the trail directly into the fuel cell of the #99 Chevrolet. By the time Suarez made it back to Pit Road, the entire rear end of #99 was engulfed in flames, and the car proceeded to melt down in the pit stall as the team deployed the extinguishers and helped him from the car.
On Lap 60, the first “big one” struck, courtesy of Corey LaJoie, who made contact with Noah Gragson. A total of 18 cars were collected in the wreck, including Chase Elliott, who is chasing the regular season championship and now sits 3rd in points thanks to the DNF – his first this season. The wreck also ended the night for Gragson, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Preece.
On Lap 82, a trifecta of simultaneous yet unrelated incidents took place when the #19 of Martin Truex Jr. and the #43 of Erik Jones both had tires go down. Meanwhile, the engine of Shane Van Gisbergen suddenly expired in a massive cloud of billowing smoke and a small fire.
Joey Logano collected the win for Stage 2.
The caution flag flew on Lap 141 for the #42 of Nemechek, who spun on the backstretch. And twelve laps later, the second big one of the night hit in Turn 1. A total of 14 cars were collected, including the 5, 8, 12, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 33, 34, 45, 47, 48, and 51. This was the result of Michael McDowell throwing a block on Austin Cindric on the outside line, just as Cindric was recovering from a push into the wall by Larson. Despite sparks shooting out the exhaust as Cindric visibly got off the gas and tried to slow his car, it was too late. McDowell spun off the nose of the #2 and came across the track in front of Logano. With nowhere to go, Logano hit McDowell broadside. The #34 was airborne momentarily and crashed down onto Logano’s hood.
But the mayhem wasn’t over yet. On Lap 160, there was a lot of pushing coming to the white flag, with Austin Dillon pushing Christopher Bell, who was pushing Kyle Busch. Then Busch suddenly bobbled as he was pushed into Austin Cindric. The #2 knocked the #4 of Josh Berry, and both cars spun off track. However, Berry’s wreck was, by far, the most dramatic and violent, as the car became airborne on the backstretch and then crashed upside down into the barrier.
This triggered overtime with a green-white checkered shootout and a severely reduced field of cars. Coming to the line, it looked like Kyle Busch was finally going to secure his first win of the season and make it into the playoffs. However, with the #21 of Harrison Burton on the outside and a stellar push from Parker Retzlaff, Burton suddenly surged ahead and mirror drove to the finish line as he blocked Busch.
In his post-race interview, Burton admitted to crying throughout the cool-down lap while considering the emotional win. It was his first win in 98 starts; it was an historic 100th win for the Wood Brothers; and despite it all, he doesn’t have a ride for 2025 yet. Meanwhile, his mom and fiance celebrated in tears, and his dad – commentator Jeff Burton – left the booth to join his son in Victory Lane.
Burton’s surprise victory has impacted the playoff standings, as he bumps both Bubba Wallace (-21) and Ross Chastain (-27) below the cut line, with Chris Buescher (+21) currently holding the final playoff position heading into the regular season finale at Darlington.
