Livescore
DAYTONA BEACH — Harrison Burton cried.
Cried through his entire victory lap around Daytona International Speedway. And you can understand.
Last month, Burton learned he was out of his Wood Brothers Racing ride for 2025. He had never claimed a victory across three full seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series. Who knew what the 23-yard-old’s future in the sport held?
“I didn’t know if I wanted to do this anymore at times,” Burton said.
Then, he won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Saturday.
It was his first time even closing a race on the lead lap at Daytona in six tries.
And it changed the course of his season and maybe, just maybe, his life.
With the victory, Burton is going to the playoffs.
“I struggle to put it into words,” he said. “For me, just the circumstances, obviously. Just the way the last three years have gone has not been the way I’ve wanted to represent myself, the way I wanted to represent this team.
“Then, to have the kind of walls closing in — there’s a definite end to my time to get to drive this historic car. To find a way to win while those walls are closing in, it makes it really, really special. It almost makes the last three years worth it.”
The triumph also marked the 100th all-time for Wood Brothers Racing.
How’d it happen?
Harrison Burton outruns Kyle Busch for first Cup Series win
Burton didn’t hold a single lead until the final lap.
The race went to overtime after a huge collision that flipped Josh Berry, the man taking over in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford next year, upside down with two laps to go. Burton began the extra two laps in second, in the outside row with Kyle Busch in first on the inside.
On the final lap, he simply outran Busch.
Burton absorbed a rear bump leaving Turn 4, momentarily sending him under the yellow line, but he straightened out and stayed ahead. NASCAR reviewed the finish and gave him the all-clear afterward. Busch placed as the runner-up.
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“We haven’t performed the way we wanted to,” Burton said. “But I try and show up the same way every day like we have a chance to win the next weekend because you do. It resets every weekend. How you finished last weekend doesn’t matter this weekend.”
Yep, nothing beyond Saturday is guaranteed — good or bad, short term or long term.
Burton enjoyed some luck. He avoided two Big Ones and the final Berry crash with two laps remaining. Winners need a little of that fortune at Daytona, where racing can be random.
Maybe his victory inspires another team to give him a look. Maybe not. His name has been rumored to multiple NASCAR levels. He’s not bitter either way.
“It’s just such a privilege to get to drive a racecar,” he said.
Sometimes, it results in moments like Saturday.
Harrison Burton celebrates Wood Brothers Racing’s 100th victory
As the time crept past midnight and turned into Sunday morning, Burton entered his post-race press conference wearing a smile despite the tough 2024 he’s endured. He sat down next to crew chief Jeremy Bullins.
Bullins held up his beverage in front of Burton.
“Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Burton said, clinking his own can against Bullins’.
Burton spent the ensuing 40 minutes talking about the past, the present and what he hopes he remembers about the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 well into the future.
He hopes he remembers the feeling of crossing the finish line.
And he hopes he remembers the tears.
“I’ve never cried after a race win in my life,” Burton said. “Never even thought about crying after a race win. But this one just means a lot.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Harrison Burton’s first Cup win brings Daytona tears
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