Harrison Burton had struggled to find his footing in the NASCAR Cup Series, being the worst ranked full-time driver in the standings entering Saturday’s 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 and months away from losing his ride at Wood Brothers Racing. Despite the circumstances, he was still able to deliver the team’s historic 100th victory in a dramatic overtime finish.
Burton was a distant 34th in points and only had a single top-ten finish, a tenth at Talladega in April, going into the race. However, Daytona International Speedway is one of NASCAR’s equalisers as a superspeedway, meaning he had just as much of a chance at winning as the championship contenders.
With help from his drafting partners and huge wrecks that sent playoff hopefuls Michael McDowell and Josh Berry airbourne, Burton found himself in the top four at the start of overtime.
As the final lap began, he led a middle lane while Kyle Busch, who was also fighting to qualify for the playoffs, paced the field along the inside. Parker Retzlaff, a Cup Series newcomer driving for Beard Motorsports (a technical partner of Busch‘s Richard Childress Racing), ultimately decided to continue drafting with Burton despite being from a different manufacturer and propelled him to the lead on the backstretch.
As they exited Turn 4, Burton built enough distance on Busch to commit to the inside and block his path. Busch had little answer for Burton’s block, admitting after the race that “besides just flat-out wrecking him, there was nothing else I could do” as Burton sealed his maiden Cup Series triumph.
The victory will certainly live on as one of NASCAR’s biggest upsets at the sport’s most iconic circuit. His father Jeff Burton, a colour commentator for NBC, called the race and subsequently joined his son on the frontstretch to celebrate with him.
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“I’ve done like a million interviews. I’ve struggled to put it into words,” said the younger Burton. “To me, just the circumstances, the way the last three years have gone, have not been the way I wanted to represent myself, the way I wanted to represent this team. There’s a different end to my time to get to drive this historic car, then to find a way to win while those walls are kind of closing in is really, really special.
“It almost makes the last three years worth it. I’d much rather have won before now. It’s just been so hard. That’s the way it should be. The Cup Series is really, really hard. But to get the Wood Brothers‘ 100th win, to get my very first Cup win, it’s really, really hard to put in words.
“I cried my whole cool-down lap. I have never cried after a race win in my life. Never even thought about crying after a race win. This one means a lot.”
Due to NASCAR waiving the rule that race winners must be in the top 30 in points to qualify for the playoffs, Burton will have a chance to compete for the title and is assured a points placement of at least 16th at the end of the season.
Even with his chances extremely slim, a playoff appearance should still make him a decent commodity in the market once he closes out his three-year tenure with the Wood Brothers. Ironically, Berry is scheduled to replace him in the #21 for the 2025 season.
Burton adds to WBR’s legacy
Wood Brothers Racing is one of the most historic organisations in NASCAR and the oldest active team today, having competed at the top level since the Cup Series‘ second season in 1950.
With Burton lifting WBR to the milestone 100th win, they are the eighth different team with triple-digit Cup victories alongside Hendrick Motorsports (310), Petty Enterprises (268, spiritual predecessor to the current Legacy Motor Club), Joe Gibbs Racing (214), Team Penske (143), RFK Racing (142), Junior Johnson & Associates (132), and RCR (117).
“These races are so hard to win. It doesn’t matter where they are, whether it’s short tracks, road courses, speedways, whatever it is, they’re hard to win,” team co-owner Eddie Wood stated. “I don’t really have the words. It just means so much to our team to finally get the other win.
“We’ve got a wall in front of our museum that’s got 21 winners, 21 different drivers that’s won races in our cars. I get to put [Harrison] up next week.”
Despite WBR‘s history, they seem to have a knack for helping young guns earn their inaugural Cup wins. Each of the team’s last four wins were the first for their respective drivers with Ryan Blaney winning at Pocono in 2017, Trevor Bayne at the 2011 Daytona 500, and Elliott Sadler at Bristol in 2001 coming before Burton. Tiny Lund, Kyle Petty, and Dale Jarrett also won for the first time at the highest level in a WBR machine.
Burton’s win also means a WBR car has visited Victory Lane in seven different decades. After failing to win during their first ten seasons, Glen Wood scored their first in the #16 at Bowman Gray Stadium in 1960 before the streak continued thanks to eighteen other drivers. The #21 has contributed to 90 of the 100 wins, while other winning numbers included three from Glen Wood’s #16 and four by Dan Gurney and the #121.
David Pearson has the most wins for the Wood Brothers with 43 ahead of Cale Yarborough (13), Neil Bonnett (9), Marvin Panch (8), AJ Foyt (5), Wood and Gurney (4), Speedy Thompson (2), Petty (2), and one apiece by Burton, Bayne, Blaney, Jarrett, Lund, Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker, and Morgan Shepherd. 15 of those wins came at Daytona including five Daytona 500s.
“I wasn’t here for any of those, but what I do know is Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500, or all these guys throughout the years, all these great finishes, the #21 is always involved,” Burton commented.
“To have my name above the door of the #21 crossing the line at Daytona, that’s pretty awesome, right? When you’re racing quarter midgets and late models growing up, that’s what you dream of, a situation like this.
“It’s just really cool. Just to be involved with this group and get to have spent the last three years with this group has been special. Now to win for them is even cooler.”
