NASCAR Cup Daytona: Harrison Burton takes shock win for Wood Brothers

Daytona delivered on the drama Saturday night when Harrison Burton surged ahead in the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to out-duel Kyle Busch and win his way into the 2024 playoffs.

Parker Retzlaff shoved Burton ahead of Busch on the final, a fellow Chevrolet driver. Burton then blocked aggressively, crossing the finish line and finally becoming a winner in the NASCAR Cup Series after 98 career starts. And he did it all with his father and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Burton in the booth. 

The Wood Brothers are parting ways with Burton at the conclusion of the 2024 season. The 23-year-old was very emotional in his post-race interview as his future in the sport remains unknown.

"I don't know! I cried the whole victory lap," said an exasperated Burton. "Obviously, I got fired from this job. I wanted to do everything I could for the Wood Brothers. They've given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them 100 [wins] on my way out ... it's amazing. We're in the playoffs now!"

He added: "It's amazing. It's been the hardest three years of my life. Obviously the hardest three years for some of these guys' lives. To win in the way we just did, to beat the best in the business Kyle Busch across the line. It's pretty fantastic."

The Wood Brothers, which have competed in NASCAR since 1953, but hasn't won since Pocono in 2017.

Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, DEX Imaging Ford Mustang (Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Busch finished second, Christopher Bell third, Cody Ware fourth, and Ty Gibbs fifth. Bubba Wallace, Parker Retzlaff, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Hemric, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top ten.

The victory completely changes the playoff picture, putting Bubba Wallace 21 points down and Ross Chastain 27 points down, with Chris Buescher now holding the 16th and final spot. 

The race featured 40 lead changes between 16 drivers, but was also slowed by seven cautions and one red flag stoppage. Both stage winners [Berry and Joey Logano] failed to finish the race after crashing out.

The final laps of the race were nothing short of pure chaos. A late-race caution just before green-flag pitstops set up a sprint to the finish. Michael McDowell got turned from the lead and went airborne in the middle of the field. Thankfully, the car slammed back onto its wheels.

Unfortunately, Josh Berry was the next driver to go spinning from the lead and things got far worse. He flipped upside down in another blow-over crash, slamming the inside wall and spinning like a top while on its roof. He climbed from the car without injury. An additional air deflector added to the right side of the cars this week didn't appear to help.

NASCAR Cup Daytona II - Race results

Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	H. BurtonWood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	164	3:01'40.537		7	40
2	K. BuschRichard Childress Racing	8		Chevrolet	164	+0.047 3:01'40.584	0.047	8	39
3	C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	164	+0.139 3:01'40.676	0.092	7	34
4	C. WareRick Ware Racing	15		Ford	164	+0.240 3:01'40.777	0.101	10	33
5	T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	164	+0.282 3:01'40.819	0.042	7	32
6	B. Wallace23XI Racing	23		Toyota	164	+0.325 3:01'40.862	0.043	10	32
7	P. RetzlaffBeard Motorsports	62		Chevrolet	164	+0.408 3:01'40.945	0.083	8
8	B. KeselowskiRFK Racing	6		Ford	164	+0.409 3:01'40.946	0.001	12	41
9	D. HemricKaulig Racing	31		Chevrolet	164	+0.429 3:01'40.966	0.020	10	28
10	C. BuescherRFK Racing	17		Ford	164	+0.446 3:01'40.983	0.017	10	37
11	C. HocevarSpire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	164	+0.471 3:01'41.008	0.025	11	26
12	R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	164	+0.594 3:01'41.131	0.123	12	25
13	Z. SmithSpire Motorsports	71		Chevrolet	164	+0.607 3:01'41.144	0.013	11	24
14	C. BriscoeStewart-Haas Racing	14		Ford	164	+0.661 3:01'41.198	0.054	12	23
15	J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club	42		Toyota	164	+0.760 3:01'41.297	0.099	12	22
16	A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	164	+0.781 3:01'41.318	0.021	11	21
17	E. JonesLegacy Motor Club	43		Toyota	164	+0.825 3:01'41.362	0.044	15	20
18	A. CindricTeam Penske	2		Ford	164	+1.026 3:01'41.563	0.201	9	26
19	B. McLeodLive Fast Motorsports	78		Chevrolet	164	+1.160 3:01'41.697	0.134	10
20	J. GaseNY Racing Team	44		Chevrolet	164	+4.159 3:01'44.696	2.999	10
21	K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	163	+1 Lap 3:01'45.559	1 Lap	11	24
22	A. DillonRichard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	162	+2 Laps 3:00'16.311	1 Lap	12	15
23	T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports	38		Ford	162	+2 Laps 3:02'47.630	2'31.319	10	25
24	M. Truex JrJoe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	161	+3 Laps 3:01'44.939	1 Lap	15	13
25	A. HillRichard Childress Racing	33		Chevrolet	159	+5 Laps 2:52'57.564	2 Laps	13
26	J. BerryStewart-Haas Racing	4		Ford	158	+6 Laps 2:51'12.808	1 Lap	7	21
27	W. ByronHendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	158	+6 Laps 2:51'12.874	0.066	9	15
28	T. Reddick23XI Racing	45		Toyota	156	+8 Laps 2:51'29.870	2 Laps	12	9
29	R. BlaneyTeam Penske	12		Ford	154	+10 Laps 2:44'04.322	2 Laps	8	23
30	M. McDowellFront Row Motorsports	34		Ford	151	+13 Laps 2:37'20.263	3 Laps	7	10
31	J. LoganoTeam Penske	22		Ford	151	+13 Laps 2:37'20.465	0.202	6	25
32	J. HaleyRick Ware Racing	51		Ford	151	+13 Laps 2:37'20.595	0.130	9	10
33	R. Stenhouse JrJTG Daugherty Racing	47		Chevrolet	151	+13 Laps 2:37'20.612	0.017	8	4
34	C. LajoieSpire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	132	+32 Laps 3:01'42.273	19 Laps	8	3
35	S. van GisbergenKaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	80	+84 Laps 1:19'18.498	52 Laps	6
36	C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	61	+103 Laps 58'41.467	19 Laps	6	1
37	N. GragsonStewart-Haas Racing	10		Ford	59	+105 Laps 54'14.607	2 Laps	4	1
38	D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	59	+105 Laps 54'14.938	0.331	3	1
39	R. PreeceStewart-Haas Racing	41		Ford	59	+105 Laps 54'15.529	0.591	5	1
40	D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing	99		Chevrolet	37	+127 Laps 31'38.736	22 Laps	4	1