2024 Top NASCAR Storylines: Wood Brothers Capture 100th Win

Throughout its long history, Wood Brothers Racing has seen no shortage of its drivers find their way to victory lane. The tracks have been different, as have the stakes and emotions each time that the team from Stuart, Va., has reigned victorious.

But few emotions resonated more than in August at Daytona International Speedway when Harrison Burton pulled off a stunning victory for his first NASCAR Cup Series win and the 100th overall win for WBR.

It was one of many memorable checkered flags that the Wood Brothers have racked up over the years.

Read all of Frontstretch‘s content looking back on 2024 here

Roll back through the archives of legendary NASCAR finishes, and you should not need long to find perhaps the greatest checkered-flag result in the history of the sport with David Pearson‘s 1976 Daytona 500 triumph. For the balance of the history of the humble operation nestled in Virginia, you were a somebody in racing if you strapped behind the wheel of the No. 21 Ford and its trademark gold-emblazoned number on the door panel and roof.

That’s backed up by a bevy of drivers to wheel a car for WBR who are either Hall of Fame or Hall of Fame-caliber in Speedy Thompson, Marvin Panch, Dale Jarrett, Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Tiny Lund, Curtis Turner, Neil Bonnett, Kyle Petty and more.

As the sport evolved, the Wood Brothers dipped from being one of the top two of three teams in the garage, but it still strived to be competitive. The No. 21 broke an eight-year drought in 2001 with Elliott Sadler beating out John Andretti to win at Bristol Motor Speedway. The car being driven that day by Andretti? The famous No. 43 of Petty Enterprises, another car that had fallen from its top-dog status.

If you grew up around the sport or even passively followed it in the 1970s during the sport’s rise to incredible popularity, it was hard not to watch a race and see the No. 21, so there will always be a sentimental desire to see the No. 21 run well, similar to how some fans from the 1990s probably feel about Kyle Busch running near the front for Richard Childress Racing.

Fans love nostalgia, and few things stir those emotions like seeing the Wood Brothers contend for a race win. That’s why Trevor Bayne‘s 2011 Daytona 500 win for the Wood Brothers resonated so much. It was not just an upset win, it also delivered WBR to victory lane. Sure, Bayne would likely wish for a more successful career as a driver, but absolutely nothing will take away from winning a race for the Wood Brothers.

The case of Burton was similar. Under the lights at Daytona, one of NASCAR’s most famous teams stunned the racing world with one of the season’s biggest upsets as Burton held off Busch not just for his first career win in the Cup Series but also the storied team’s 100th victory.

Yes, one of the sport’s most iconic teams won its milestone race at perhaps the greatest showcase of speed in all of motorsports.

This was not like other out-of-nowhere wins by drivers by way of weather delays or fuel mileage. No, Burton had to not only master a high-speed game of chess in the closing laps but also hold off a driver who was desperate for a win.

It’s of note that as the regular season reached its conclusion, Busch was looking for a win to get into the postseason as well as to avoid going a full season without a win in NASCAR’s top series for the first time in his career.

And then there was Burton. If there was any driver entered that night at Daytona that’d be excused for coasting around and not forcing the issue, it’d have been Burton.

By this time, it was all but sealed that Burton’s first opportunity to compete in NASCAR’s top level was on its way out. It’d be fair to say that things never worked out for Burton in the No. 21 as heading into August, Burton had managed one top-five finish and four top 10s in nearly three combined seasons.

For a team that in recent years had shown its penchant for contending for and even winning races with Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto, the expectation is to do what has shown to be capable, and Burton had been unable to do that.

That is, until Daytona. A race that put him into his first playoffs. And though he didn’t finish better than 15th the rest of the season, his status as a playoff hopeful remains in the record books. And he’ll be the one who’s able to say he got the historic Wood Brothers the team’s milestone 100th win.

Since then, both parties have gone their separate ways. Josh Berry will take over the No. 21 next year, with Burton set to race for AM Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

But in a moment on a late August night, Burton joined select company with his father Jeff as father-son winners in the NASCAR Cup Series.

All glory may be fleeting. But the emotion of Burton’s win was arguably one of the best feel-good stories of the 2024 season.