By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This one has been a long time coming.
Harrison Burton, driving the famous No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers, took matters into his own hands in overtime Saturday night at Daytona, powering his way into the lead on the final lap and holding off the charge of Kyle Busch to claim his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory and punch his ticket into the Playoffs.
The win also marks the 100th career win for the legendary Wood Brothers team, which has been sitting on 99 wins since Ryan Blaney last won for the team back in 2017.
“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 the way we just did, beat the best in the business, Kyle Busch, across the line, it’s pretty fantastic,” Burton said.
“I made a bet with Jeremy, my crew chief, that if we won, we’re staying here and driving home. We’ll be at a bar somewhere. Come find us (laughter). We’re going to celebrate this one.”
Since joining the team on a full-time basis in 2022, Burton has no doubt struggled to find his footing and as a result finds himself without a ride heading into 2025. For now, the 23-year-old can focus on the here and now and celebrating a milestone win for both he and the team as the gear up for the Playoffs.
“I cried the whole victory lap,” said Burton. “Obviously got fired from this job. I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them 100 on my way out is amazing. We’re in the Playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”
Meanwhile, it’s a night that ends in ‘What If?’ for Kyle Busch, after leading at the white flag only to have to watch another car cross the finish line first. Like Burton, Busch was in a must-win position coming into the night, with his only path to the Playoffs going through Victory Lane.
He’ll now have to go into Darlington and win to keep his multi-year streak of Playoff appearances alive.
“Just finished second. It’s all good. We were really, really, really lucky tonight to miss a few of them crashes,” said Busch
“All good. Just real proud of everybody, Randall, all the guys at RCR, ECR did a great job, brought a fast car. Was hoping we could get those three No. 8 specials on Monday, get some chicken tenders rolling, but wasn’t meant to…
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