Harrison Burton's Unlikely Victory at Daytona

Harrison Burton, driver of the #21 DEX Imaging Ford, (R) is congratulated by NASCAR Cup Series driver, Joey Logano in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 24, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida.  Sean Gardner/Getty Images

For the current driver of the #21 Wood Brothers Ford Dark Horse Mustang, things were not looking good, to say the least.  Harrison Burton, son of Hall-of-Fame nominee Jeff Burton (who happened to be announcing the Daytona race), had already lost his three-year ride back in June, to Josh Berry, and had never won a Cup race.

But at Daytona, anything can happen, and often does.

Before last night's race, Burton was a dismal 34th in the 2024 standings, having won only one top-5 and five top-10s in his 97 previous Cup starts.  It looked likely that this driver was facing the last 12 Cup races of his career.  Betting sites had his odds of winning at Daytona set at 75-1.  Burton's car was definitely not the fastest on the track, leading only one lap--the final.

He became the third driver in the Burton family to win at DIS, joining his father (2000) and uncle, Ward (2002).

Harrison maneuvered through multiple wrecks during the race, got a good push from the impressive Parker Retzloff, and managed to block Kyle Busch to pull off the shocking win.  A win that was also historic due to it giving the Wood Brothers team their 100th victory after a seven-year losing streak, and as Len Wood pointed out, also giving the outfit at least one win in each of the last eight decades.

As the younger Burton was quick to point out post-race, “Obviously, I got fired from this job, and I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life.”

Burton's win shakes up the wild-card playoff picture heading into next week's race at Darlington. Burton entered Saturday's race 34th in points, the worst rank among full-time Cup drivers in 2024.  

His victory leaves Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace with a big job to face next week.

Wallace finished sixth on Saturday but fell overall because of Burton's win.

Chastain will have to earn 27 points to gain on 16th place Chris Buescher, while Wallace will have a 21-point deficit heading into next Sunday's regular-season race at Darlington.

Martin Truex Jr. is not locked into the playoffs due to being winless on the season, but has a 58-point advantage, while Ty Gibbs has a 39-point gain over the cut line.

Additionally, if Austin Dillon were to win his final appeal from the Richmond race tomorrow, he would regain his playoff berth, and there would be one less spot for a winless driver to advance.

Tune in next Sunday at 6 pm on USA network to catch the last race of the regular season before the playoffs start, at the historic Darlington Raceway.