Coke Zero Sugar 400: Harrison Burton gets Wood Brothers win No. 100 at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Harrison Burton only led one lap at Daytona International Speedway, the final lap, en route to earning his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, which also gave win No. 100 to Wood Brothers Racing.

Burton’s No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford was upfront when it mattered the most as he became the first winner in the Cup Series born in the 2000s. He locked himself into the Cup Series Playoffs with his hard-fought victory, knowing that he would not return to the Wood Brothers in 2025.

“I cried for the whole cool-down lap,” Burton said. “It’s just been the hardest three years of my life.  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.  We kept saying that in our meetings that we had a chance to get No. 100 for the Wood Brothers and that’s something that you can’t take lightly.  We as a group have that place in history now forever for the 100th win for the Wood Brothers and, to me, that just means the world.”

This win, however, comes in some negative light toward the NASCAR Playoffs system as Burton was 34th in points entering Daytona. Burton will now be in the playoffs after being the lowest full-time driver in the standings, while multiple drivers in the top 16 in the Regular Season Championship will fail to make the postseason.

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch was just a few feet from locking himself into the playoffs and extending his record of winning a race at the premier level every year of his full-time Cup Series career. Unfortunately for Busch, even with two straight top-five finishes, he will need to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington next Sunday night if he wants to be in the postseason.

“It’s just frustrating,” Busch said. “We’ve led races here at Daytona going into the last restart and haven’t been able to pull off a victory. Not sure what it is; what I’m doing wrong or what it is that I’m missing. It seems like the energy broke up off of Turn 2 and the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) got crooked and wasn’t on my rear bumper the way we needed to be. The outside lane just went by. I wanted to get up in front of the No. 21 (Burton) because I knew the momentum was coming there. But I knew the No. 20 was a better friend. It just didn’t work out.”

Results from the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 are listed below:

Josh Berry Flip, Michael McDowell Near-Flip

A couple of scary incidents occurred during the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 as Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell nearly flipped into the catch fence. Shortly after McDowell’s crash, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry flipped over on the backstretch and spun in circles multiple times on his roof after hitting the inside wall, before finally coming to a complete stop.

This marks the second straight week where a car has gone upside down (Corey LaJoie, Michigan) after NASCAR implemented new parts to prevent incidents like this from happening.

You can watch both incidents below:

Other Race Facts

Harrison Burton joins a long list of Wood Brothers Racing winners in the NASCAR Cup Series: David Pearson (43); Cale Yarborough (13); Neil Bonnett (9); Marvin Panch (8); AJ Foyt (5); Glen Wood (4); Dan Gurney (4); Speedy Thompson (2); Kyle Petty (2); Tiny Lund (1); Curtis Turner (1); Donnie Allison (1); Buddy Baker (1); Dale Jarrett (1); Morgan Shepherd (1); Elliott Sadler (1); Trevor Bayne (1); Ryan Blaney (1); Harrison Burton (1).

In fact, the last four Wood Brothers race winners (Sadler, Bayne, Blaney, Burton) also earned their first career Cup Series wins in the iconic No. 21 Ford.

Daniel Suárez’s last-place finish makes him the 25th different driver in the Cup Series to finish last this season. Ironically enough, there have been 25 races, which means a different driver has finished last in each race this season, according to statistician Trey Ryan.

The race for the final spots in the Cup Series Playoffs has taken a dramatic turn after Burton’s victory. Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain are all likely fighting for just one spot. Although those three drivers currently sit 11th, 13th and 14th in the regular points standings, at least two of them will not make the postseason because of the “win-and-in” rule.

If this rule didn’t exist, Suárez, Austin Cindric and Burton would all miss the playoffs.

In NASCAR, Tyler Reddick remains in the lead as he will likely capture the NASCAR Regular Season GRID Rating Championship.

The next race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which will take place on Sunday, Sept. 1. Coverage of the regular-season finale will begin at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.