Top Dog: Harrison Burton
“Jeff, your little boy has done it!”
That was the instant classic call by Leigh Diffey, NASCAR on NBC’s new lead announcer on Saturday night (Aug. 24). It was directed at colleague Jeff Burton, who swung his fist through the air as he watched his 23-year-old son, Harrison Burton, cross the start/finish line in first place for the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career by winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
But instead of the sincere joy and appreciation Harrison Burton should have received from the NASCAR garage, there was a bit of saltiness in the air — and no, it wasn’t from the waters of Daytona Beach.
While there was jubilation and an awe-struck reaction across the industry for arguably the upset of the decade, the looming shadow of the playoffs clouded the spectacle a little bit.
Harrison Burton entered the race 34th in points out of 34 full-time drivers. For a month and a half, it has been known that he is out of a job for 2025, with Wood Brothers Racing opting to move forward with Josh Berry. That decision came after very little has gone right for NASCAR’s oldest team since Burton took the reins of the famed No. 21 in 2022.
In his 97 starts with WBR entering Daytona, Harrison Burton had recorded just one top five and five top 10s, with a best points finish of 27th in his rookie season. In nearly half of those starts, he was not running on the lead lap.
Following start number 98, Harrison Burton vaulted from 34th to 13th by virtue of his win, and he guaranteed a points finish of at least 16th by making the playoffs.
Unless fortunes turn in his favor, he isn’t favored to go far in the playoffs, summoning the question: Is this the peak example of how controversial this playoff format can be?
Let’s set that aside for now, as the focus should be a feel good story for the ages.
After Ryan Blaney won for the Wood Brothers in 2017 to earn the organization’s 99th victory, it has been equal parts oh-so-close or so far away from its 100th win. Now, instead of asking when it will come, that milestone has finally been sealed.
The Wood Brothers’ last four wins have all been career firsts, with Burton joining Blaney, Trevor Bayne and Elliott Sadler in that group. He also became the first driver born in the 2000s to win a Cup race.
And despite the struggles, think of the names he joins as a winner in the No. 21. That elite group includes David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, A.J. Foyt and many more.
Burton’s win rendered shades of 1992, when Ned Jarrett called his son Dale‘s first win in the Daytona 500. He was quickly greeted by a leaping hug from one of the most important figures in his life: his dad.
Superspeedway racing definitely necessitates earning some breaks. Still, Burton dodged not one, not two, but three pileups, ran a clean race and put himself in position.
With former teammates Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell to his inside and Parker Retzlaff behind him, it was truly a David versus Goliath scenario. Yet a monster push down the backstretch set Burton up to earn the win, and that’s exactly what he did.
The future is still uncertain for the Huntersville, N.C. native, who is still in search of a ride for next season. But no matter what happens from here, he can call himself a Cup winner and the driver who got the Wood Brothers team its 100th win.
There will be at least three weeks for fans to critique how the postseason should look. For now, let’s savor a beautiful moment of a young man making his father proud and creating history of his own.
Notable Underdog Runs
Making just his second career Cup start, Retzlaff did exactly what he needed to do as he tested the waters of Cup racing. He ran all the laps, kept his car clean, avoided major mistakes and dodged the Big One (or Big Three in this race). When the final pileup ensued with two laps to go, Retzlaff navigated his way through, positioning him in fourth for the final restart, and he ultimately finished seventh after pushing the eventual winner to victory lane.
The overtime restart didn’t come without a little conflict for the rookie. Beard has an alliance with Richard Childress Racing, and it just so happened one of RCR’s drivers was in the lead in Busch, who needed a win to make the playoffs. With third-place Bell choosing the bottom, Retzlaff was instructed by his team to not push Burton to the win.
Obviously, that’s not what happened.
Retzlaff’s choice wasn’t the wrong one. Listening to team instructions to not help Burton would be borderline race manipulation, and it wouldn’t be fair to a team who shows up to four races a year and has one full-time employee. With his ties to RCR in Cup and his NASCAR Xfinity Series ride with Jordan Anderson Racing, future effects remain to be seen, but Retzlaff proved he has what it takes.
Every time it feels like Rick Ware Racing knocks down a barrier, it does it again. Daytona served as notice that this team is heading in the right direction. Cody Ware earned his first top five by finishing fourth (tying the best finish for RWR), and Justin Haley spent 21 laps out in front (the second-most in his career) before getting involved in a crash.
Ware methodically worked his way forward throughout the race, and he just avoided the melee of accidents when they struck. At one point, it was Haley leading the race on the outside while Ware was pulling the inside line forward. In the end, Ware was credited as the biggest mover of the race.
In spite of the disappointing ending, Haley put his talent on display throughout the night, earning five stage points in stage two and running inside the top five for a chunk of the race. His move to take the lead even drew the appreciation from basketball legend and 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan.
Daniel Hemric earned his fourth ninth-place finish of the season. Hemric ran as high as third at one point during the race, keeping his No. 31 very much in the hunt throughout the night. Hemric received slight damage in an accident and had to overcome a penalty, yet he continued to work his way forward to set up his fourth top 10 of the year, doubling his total from his other full-time season in 2019.
Aside from the lap 61 caution involving Corey LaJoie, Spire Motorsports had a fairly quiet night between Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith. Hocevar finished 11th while Smith finished 13th for the third straight time at Daytona.
Hocevar ran in the back for most of the race, opting to play it safe and also save fuel for the long haul. Once again, that strategy paid off on a superspeedway, allowing Hocevar to come just short of another top 10. He finished 12th or better for the fourth consecutive race, and he had some interesting takeaways when responding to The Athletic reporter Jeff Gluck’s “Good Race Poll” on X/Twitter.
Hours before the Xfinity Series race, Smith officially confirmed that he and Trackhouse Racing mutually parted ways, allowing him to immediately explore other options. That didn’t phase him in continuing his streak of momentum as of late, finishing 17th or better in five of the last seven races. Smith did spin on the lap 159 caution and received slight damage. However, survival was the name of the game, and that’s what the 25-year-old did as he auditions for his next ride.
Both Legacy Motor Club drivers flirted with disaster, yet both finished inside the top 20 with John Hunter Nemechek in 15th and Erik Jones in 17th. Nemechek appeared to have put himself in position to win, running inside the top three for much of the final extended green flag run after getting involved in the first crash of the day. That was until lap 141 when Kyle Larson got into Nemechek while trying to push him to the lead. Nemechek made an incredible save to avoid hitting anything, but he paid the price by losing track position and ultimately the chance at a win.
Jones’ challenges were much steeper when he was also involved in the Big One on lap 61. Jones was running on the top when smoke billowed in front of him, causing him to get hit from behind, spin down the track and pinball off several cars. Twenty laps later, he was part of a bizarre sequence when he cut a tire on the backstretch, a lap that also saw Martin Truex Jr. blow a tire and Shane van Gisbergen lose an engine.
The damage hindered Jones throughout the night, but like so many others, staying in the race was essential to earning a respectable finish. Nemechek earned his first top 15 since New Hampshire Motor Speedway, while Jones grabbed consecutive top 20s for the first time since Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Rounding out the top 20 were a couple of drivers you can call the underdogs of the underdogs. In his fifth start with Live Fast Motorsports, team owner BJ McLeod finished 19th after avoiding the storm of chaos. Joey Gase rebounded from falling a lap down in stage one to finish in 20th with NY Racing. Gase, who was making his first Cup start since 2021, matched the organization’s best finish.
What They’re Saying
Burton (winner): “I cried the whole victory lap. 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 them the 100th [win] on my way out is amazing. We’re in the playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”
Retzlaff (seventh):
Hocevar (11th):
Haley (32nd):
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.