Harrison Burton Shocks the NASCAR Nation by Winning at Daytona

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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RIS -Harrison Burton won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race in overtime after getting by Kyle Busch on the final restart and rocketing in front of the field to earn a spot in the playoffs. Burton scored the Wood Brothers Racing’s 100th win and earned his first victory in 98 starts. Busch finished second behind the No. 21.

via a backstretch push from Parker Retzlaff to earn a spot in the playoffs. Burton scored Wood Brothers Racing’s 100th win and earned his first victory in 98 starts.

“I cried the whole victory lap,” Burton told NBC post-race. “Got fired from his job, and … I wanted to do everything for the Wood brothers that I could; they’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get 100 for them on my way out is amazing. Burton was one of a few cars left for the finish.  As is typical fort Daytona races, accidents were high.  The accidents prior to the final runs eliminated many drivers from the competition, many who were contenders.  That included Busch and others trying to get a ticket to the playoffs, but Burton was happy.

“We’re in the playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington [Raceway] and see what happens.”

Busch finished second behind the No. 21. He gave a big push to Burton coming to the line, but the son of Jeff Burton held on to his Ford Mustang, beating the Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet by .047 seconds. Christopher Bell recovered from wrecks to finish third, and Cody Ware earned his first top five, finishing fourth. Ty Gibbs completed the top five.

Bubba Wallace, Retzlaff, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Hemric and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10.

The end of the race had two major wrecks that changed the running order and contenders significantly. Josh Berry and Austin Cindric battled hard side-by side for the lead with two to go, but after a push by Busch, Cindric turned into Berry and both spun in the newly paved infield. Berry flipped and went straight to the inside wall as others in the field were collected behind. The airborne McDowell collected multiple contenders, including Wallace, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney and multiple others — 14 in total.

Michael McDowell took the lead to start the final stage, but Haley made a key move to join Cindric on the bottom and fly by the polesitter. He controlled the lead for a majority of the longest green-flag run of the day

The first Big One happened in stage two, featuring Ross Chastain, who lost some momentum, checking up Noah Gragson and causing Corey LaJoie to to end up spinning the No. 10, collecting almost half the field, including Chastain.

 Others notables involved whose days essentially ended were Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Ryan Preece.

On pit road, Daniel Suarez pitted after stage one, and Hamlin got trapped behind him while trying to pull out. As Hamlin burned out to try to leave his pit, he sparked a fuel fire that arced into Suarez’s fuel cell, causing a massive fire in the back of his car and forcing him out of the race.

Next race is at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day.  It will be after the race that the field for the playoffs will be determined.

Unofficial Results: Coke Zero Sugar 400, August 24, 2024 - Daytona International Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Stage 1 Pos, Stage 2 Pos, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
 1) 20, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 164, , , 40, Running, 1, 1, 5
 2) 11, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, 164, , 7, 39, Running, 2, 8, 
 3) 27, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 164, , , 34, Running, , , 
 4) 33, Cody Ware, No. 15 Jacob Construction/Parts Plus Ford, 164, , , 33, Running, , , 
 5) 26, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 REAGAN The Movie Toyota, 164, , , 32, Running, , , 
 6) 18, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota, 164, , 10, 32, Running, 4, 16, 
 7) 29, * Parker Retzlaff(i), No. 62 Funkaway Chevrolet, 164, , , 0, Running, , , 
 8) 12, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 King's Hawaiian Ford, 164, 7, 3, 41, Running, 3, 8, 
 9) 28, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 164, , , 28, Running, , , 
10) 13, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 164, 3, 9, 37, Running, 2, 10, 
11) 37, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet, 164, , , 26, Running, 1, 1, 
12) 24, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 164, , , 25, Running, , , 
13) 30, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Ambetter Health Chevrolet, 164, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 6, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford, 164, , , 23, Running, 1, 2, 
15) 31, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 164, , , 22, Running, , , 
16) 21, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 164, , , 21, Running, , , 
17) 40, Erik Jones, No. 43 Famiy Dollar Toyota, 164, , , 20, Running, , , 
18) 8, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Tarkett Ford, 164, 4, , 26, Running, 2, 15, 
19) 38, * BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Power Slap Chevrolet, 164, , , 0, Running, , , 
20) 39, * Joey Gase(i), No. 44 NFPA Chevrolet, 164, , , 0, Running, , , 
21) 9, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 163, 10, 4, 24, Running, 3, 5, 
22) 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, 162, , , 15, Running, , , 
23) 2, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Grillo's Pickles Ford, 162, 6, 5, 25, Running, 2, 5, 
24) 17, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 161, , , 13, Running, , , 
25) 23, * Austin Hill(i), No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet, 159, , , 0, Accident, , , 
26) 5, Josh Berry #, No. 4 eero Ford, 158, 1, , 21, Accident, 5, 9, 1
27) 7, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 158, 9, 8, 15, Accident, 1, 1, 
28) 25, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota, 156, , , 9, Accident, , , 
29) 14, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, 154, 5, 2, 23, Accident, , , 
30) 1, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Long John Silver's Ford, 151, 8, , 10, Accident, 3, 26, 
31) 3, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 151, 2, 1, 25, Accident, 9, 34, 1
32) 36, Justin Haley, No. 51 Beef a Roo Ford, 151, , 6, 10, Accident, 1, 21, 
33) 35, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/BIGGIE Muffins/Capri Sun Chevrolet, 151, , , 4, Accident, 1, 2, 
34) 34, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Chevrolet, 132, , , 3, Running, , , 
35) 32, Shane Van Gisbergen(i), No. 16 Safety Culture Chevrolet, 80, , , 0, Engine, , , 
36) 10, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 61, , , 1, Accident, , , 
37) 15, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 59, , , 1, Accident, , , 
38) 19, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota, 59, , , 1, Accident, , , 
39) 4, Ryan Preece, No. 41 TRUEWERK Ford, 59, , , 1, DVP, , , 
40) 22, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet, 37, , , 1, Fire, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 164 Laps, 410. Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 1 Mins, 40 Secs.
Average Speed: 135.413 MPH
Margin of Victory: .047 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 4, 22, 17, 2, 12, 38, 6, 34, 24, 5
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 12, 6, 5, 38, 51, 8, 24, 17, 23

Comments: Harrison Burton has won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, his first career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

Cautions: 7 for 34 laps;
Laps: 37-41 (Stage 1 Conclusion [44]);
61-66 (No. 1, 19, 41, 48, 24, 9, 43, 45, 5, 31, 7, 12, 3, 11, 10, 20, 42 Incident Backstretch [None]);
82-88 (Possible Fluid On Backstretch from No. 16 [48]);
97-100 (Stage 2 Conclusion [1]);
141-144 (No. 42 Spin Backstretch [19]);
153-157 (No. 34, 5, 23, 22, 48, 45, 51, 24, 12, 8, 20, 47, 17, 33 Incident Turn 1 [19]);
160-162 (No. 4, 2 Incident Backstretch [Red Flag: 00:06:52] [5]).

Lead Changes: 40 among 16 drivers;
M. McDowell 1-5;
J. Logano 6;
J. Berry # 7;
B. Keselowski 8-11;
J. Berry # 12;
W. Byron 13;
J. Berry # 14;
J. Logano 15-19;
T. Gilliland 20-21;
J. Logano 22-23;
T. Gilliland 24-26;
J. Berry # 27-29;
J. Logano 30-34;
J. Berry # 35-37;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 38-39;
J. Logano 40-45;
B. Wallace 46-47;
C. Buescher 48;
B. Wallace 49;
C. Briscoe 50-51;
B. Wallace 52-62;
C. Hocevar # 63;
C. Buescher 64-72;
B. Wallace 73-74;
J. Logano 75-77;
K. Larson 78;
J. Logano 79;
K. Larson 80;
J. Logano 81-88;
K. Larson 89-91;
B. Keselowski 92-94;
J. Logano 95-97;
B. Keselowski 98;
M. McDowell 99-118;
J. Haley 119-139;
K. Busch 140-142;
A. Cindric 143-150;
M. McDowell 151;
A. Cindric 152-158;
K. Busch 159-163;
H. Burton 164.