Last-Lap Pass Nets Harrison Burton First Cup Victory; 100th Win for Wood Brothers
With a last-lap pass on two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, Harrison Burton was able to propel himself into Victory Lane for the first time in his career and ensure his name will forever be etched in the history of Wood Brothers Racing.
The driver of the No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse led a single lap all evening, the final one, en route to the long-awaited 100th victory for Wood Brothers Racing, NASCAR's longest-running organization.
"It's amazing," Burton said post-race. "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."
As the 23-year-old driver reaches the tail-end of his third season of full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition, there have been many hardships along the way, with only a single top-five and five top-10s to show for his tenure with the Penske-aligned team.
" I don't know. I cried the whole victory lap," said Burton when asked the meaning of this victory. "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."
With his victory, Burton not only locks himself into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, from a staggering 34th-place in point standings but becomes the first driver born after January 1, 2000, to triumph at NASCAR's top level.
Kyle Busch finished a season-best second-place in Saturday's event, coming up 0.047 seconds short of a berth into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and an extension of his streak of 19 years with a win at NASCAR's top-level.
Christopher Bell capped off a quiet day in third-place, while Cody Ware put up a masterful run for Rick Ware Racing in fourth-place, tying the organization's best-ever result in the NASCAR Cup Series. Ty Gibbs rounded out the top-five.
Bubba Wallace was sixth, and despite recording a significant number of points, heads to Darlington significantly below the cutline, with 21 points to make up on Chris Buescher.
Parker Retzlaff brought his No. 62 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet Camaro home in seventh-place, picking up a top-10 finish in just his second NASCAR Cup Series start.
Brad Keselowski rebounded from a late-race restart violation to finish eighth for RFK Racing, with Daniel Hemric finishing ninth for Kaulig Racing, and Chris Buescher rounding out the top-10.
Leaving Daytona, Tyler Reddick holds a 17-point lead in the regular-season standings, holding an advantage over Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, who in third-place, is 18 points behind heading to Darlington.
JOSEPH SRIGLEY