Harrison Burton took the oldest Cup Series team in the field back to Victory Lane at Daytona on August 24th, 2024, leading only one lap in the historic No. 21 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse – the most important one.
Burton beat the No. 8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Kyle Busch to the line by a mere 0.47 seconds, earning the first win of his Cup Series career in epic fashion. He’s the fifth NASCAR Ford driver to clinch a Playoffs berth on a win, joining Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and Austin Cindric, who are guaranteed a spot in the championship.
Burton was understandably moved to tears after his victory, which marked the 100th time Wood Brothers Racing (WBR) has visited Victory Lane in its 74-year history.
“I cried for the whole cool down lap,” he said. “It’s just been the hardest three years of my life [since joining WBR in 2021]. There’s no denying. It’s just been rough and these guys have rallied behind me when it matters the most. Going to every single race with the same mentality of trying to win because we could get number 100.”
It’s worth noting that Burton will not return to WBR in 2025. Josh Berry will take over the No. 21 Mustang next year, leaving Burton without a ride.
Other NASCAR Ford teams had a wild ride at Daytona. The No. 34 Mustang of Michael McDowell was swept into a mid-race melee and almost flipped on the backstretch, but came to rest on all fours before going over. Berry wasn’t so lucky. His No. 4 Mustang rolled in a separate incident, sending him into the wall upside down after a massive crash in the closing laps.
Both Berry and McDowell safely exited their cars, although Berry’s Mustang had to be painstakingly turned back over by track safety crews before he was able to get out. Earlier this week, NASCAR implemented a fix that was intended to keep the race cars from flipping like they did at Michigan, but it seems like there’s more work to do on that front.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 164 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 11 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 164 | 8 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 27 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 164 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 33 | 15 | Cody Ware | Jacob Construction/Parts Plus Ford | 164 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 26 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | REAGAN The Movie Toyota | 164 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 18 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota | 164 | 16 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 29 | 62 | * Parker Retzlaff(i) | Funkaway Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 12 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 164 | 8 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 28 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 13 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 164 | 10 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 37 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Premier Security Chevrolet | 164 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 24 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 30 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Ambetter Health Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 6 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford | 164 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 31 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 164 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 21 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 40 | 43 | Erik Jones | Famiy Dollar Toyota | 164 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 8 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Tarkett Ford | 164 | 15 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 38 | 78 | * BJ McLeod(i) | Power Slap Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 39 | 44 | * Joey Gase(i) | NFPA Chevrolet | 164 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 9 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 163 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 162 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 2 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Grillo's Pickles Ford | 162 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 17 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 161 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 25 | 23 | 33 | * Austin Hill(i) | United Rentals Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 5 | 4 | Josh Berry # | eero Ford | 158 | 9 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 7 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 158 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 25 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | MoneyLion Toyota | 156 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 14 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 154 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Long John Silver's Ford | 151 | 26 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 151 | 34 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 36 | 51 | Justin Haley | Beef a Roo Ford | 151 | 21 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 35 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/BIGGIE Muffins/Capri Sun Chevrolet | 151 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 34 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Celsius Chevrolet | 132 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 32 | 16 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | Safety Culture Chevrolet | 80 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 10 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 61 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 15 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Rush Truck Centers Ford | 59 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 38 | 19 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Cares Toyota | 59 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 39 | 4 | 41 | Ryan Preece | TRUEWERK Ford | 59 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 40 | 22 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet | 37 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comment
The coolest part of the win was the very emotional hug with his father NBC announcer Jeff Burton. Epic.