In one of the most dramatic races of the season, 23-year-old second-generation driver Harrison Burton made a last lap pass on two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in overtime at Daytona International Speedway to earn his first career NASCAR Cup Series win and deliver his legendary Wood Brothers Racing team its historic 100th victory.
Big wrecks, amazing passes, and ultimately one of the most memorable and popular victories of the year characterized a busy, busy Coke Zero Sugar 400 on the Daytona high banks that had tremendous effect on the NASCAR Playoff outlook now with only a single race left to decide which 16 drivers will advance to championship contention.
Burton got a huge push on the backstretch from a first-time NASCAR Cup Series starter, Parker Retzlaff, allowing Burton’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to pull alongside and ultimately by race leader Busch who stayed on Burton’s bumper to the finish line, but was unable to pass him back.
The win is an automatic ticket for Burton into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after not even being among the top 20 in points coming into the race. It was a hugely popular victory for the young driver with many of his competitors coming by to congratulate him on pit road and in victory lane.
“That is what the sport is about,’’ Burton’s father, NBC Sports broadcaster and former NASCAR Cup Series standout Jeff Burton said after high-fiving his colleagues in the television booth, overcome with emotion watching his son claim his first major race victory.
Harrison Burton was equally as emotional — claiming his win by a fraction of a second — 0.047s – over the two-time series champion Busch.
“I cried the whole victory lap,” Burton said. “I obviously got fired from this job and wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers I could; they’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life and to give the 100th [win] on my way out is amazing. We’re in the Playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.’’
On Saturday night, the question, was “what didn’t happen?” The race featured 16 leaders and 40 lead changes. The winner only led a single lap. There were two versions of the Daytona “Big One” — multi-car accidents that, on this night, eliminated one race leader after another. Only five cars took the checkered flag without being involved in some sort of incident.
Burton and Busch got the chance to settle the trophy after an accident at the front of the field with only two laps of regulation remaining forced the overtime period.
Late race leader, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric was pushed from behind causing his No. 2 Ford to move into Josh Berry’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford alongside him. The side impact launched Berry’s Mustang airward sending it on a wild ride on the backstretch.
Berry, who led eight laps, earned his first stage win of the season and contended for the victory all night, climbed out of the car on the backstraight with the help of the safety team, then waved to the crowd and received a huge round of applause.
“I’m all good. Actually it probably wasn’t as bad as it looked,’’ Berry said after being checked in the infield medical center. “But man, I’m bummed. We had a [great] night going. We were in position and really proud of the job I did tonight and the team did tonight. We were in contention.’’
Only seven laps earlier there was a 14-car crash at the front of the field that eliminated another race leader – pole winner Michael McDowell, whose No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford launched airborne, turned sideways and came back down on all four tires, the melee collecting frontrunners Joey Logano — who led a race best 34 of the 164 laps on the night, Justin Haley, Kyle Larson and championship points leader Tyler Reddick, among others.
Bubba Wallace, who is in a tight three-car battle for the final Playoff points position, was involved too, but his 23XI Racing team was able to make quick repairs and return to the track. He finished sixth but is still on the outside looking in for a Playoff position.
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With Burton’s win, Wallace now finds himself ranked 17th in the standings – 21 points off the pace of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher, who is holding down that 16th and final Playoff position after earning a 10th place finish Saturday.
Ross Chastain, the third driver in tight contention for the final Playoff position based on points, rallied to finish 12th. He is ranked 18th, 27 points behind Buescher.
Busch, who now has top-five finishes in the last three races, is essentially in need of a victory next weekend in the regular season finale at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. He is 106 points below the cutoff line despite his recent string of strong finishes.
“Just frustrating, you know?’’ the Richard Childress Racing driver Busch said of just missing out on the win, which would not only have punched his Playoff ticket but also extended his streak of 19 seasons with at least one victory.
“We win races here in Daytona going into the last restart but haven’t been able to pull off the victory. Not sure what I’m doing wrong or missing,’’ Busch said, explaining, “I wanted to get up in front of the No. 21 [Burton] because I knew the momentum was coming there, but I knew the No. 20 [former teammate Christopher Bell] was a better friend [behind]. Just didn’t work out, as usual.’’
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bell finished third, followed by Rick Ware Racing’s Cody Ware and JGR’s Ty Gibbs. Wallace was sixth. Brad Keselowski was seventh, followed by Retzlaff in his series debut, Daniel Hemric and Buescher.
The first round of drama happened on lap 61 when 17 cars were involved in an accident exiting Turn 4.
Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet triggered the accident in tight-quarter racing. It collected Chastain and forced numerous pit stops for the Floridian who is trying to earn one of the last points positions in the Playoffs.
It also involved championship frontrunners Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson to varying degrees.
Elliott and Hamlin had to retire their cars with the damage and were scored 36th and 38th respectively. Reddick still managed to finish 28th. Larson, who was involved in multiple incidents on the night, finished 21st.
Heading to the regular season finale next weekend, Reddick maintains a 17-point edge atop the standings over Larson. Elliott is now 18 points back. The regular season champion earns a valuable 15-point bonus to carry with him through the 10-race Playoffs.
The regular season concludes with next Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson is the defending race winner.
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