Out of his ride and far removed from the playoff picture, Harrison Burton changed his fortunes with a lap to remember Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Burton passed two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch on the final lap in overtime to pick up his first career victory and a spot in NASCAR's postseason.
The 23-year-old Burton, who already lost his ride in the famed No. 21 Ford with Wood Brothers Racing next season, took the lead thanks to a huge push from little-known Parker Retzlaff in his second career start.
Busch fought back and had a chance down the stretch. He even got to Burton's bumper and forced Burton below the double-yellow line. But NASCAR officials ruled the contact caused Burton to cross the line and did not penalize him.
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“Besides just flat-out wrecking him, there was nothing else I could do,” Busch said.
Busch finished second, followed by Christopher Bell, Cody Ware and Ty Gibbs. It was Burton’s first win in 98 career Cup starts, and it was the 100th victory for the Wood Brothers.
“I cried the whole victory lap," Burton said. "I, 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 and to get them (No.) 100 on my way out is amazing. We’re in the playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”
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Burton's dad, former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, called the race for NBC Sports and radioed down to offer his congratulations. He also hustled down from the broadcast booth to celebrate with his son in victory lane.
“It’s been the hardest three of years of my life, obviously the hardest three years for some of these guys’ lives," Harrison Burton said. "To win it the way we just did it, to beat the best in the business — Kyle Busch — across the line, it’s pretty fantastic.”
No one saw it coming, even though Daytona often provides unique winners. Burton had one top-five finishes and five top-10s in his three-plus years driving at NASCAR's top level.
Now, he gets to vie for a championship that would be even more improbable.
Thirteen drivers are locked into the 16-man playoff field thanks to wins: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Bell, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman and Burton.
Five other winless drivers are vying for the three remaining spots: Martin Truex Jr., Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. The regular season ends next week at Darlington.
All five contenders were involved in crashes at Daytona. The scariest ones came late.
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Josh Berry's No. 4 Ford flipped and slammed into an inside retaining wall while upside down and sliding on its roof. Berry had to wait several minutes inside his car as safety crews flipped the car over. But Berry flashed a thumbs-up to the crowd after getting helped out.
Berry was leading the race with two laps to go when Austin Cindric got turned sideways by Busch and slammed into Berry.
It was the second time in less than a week that a Cup car flipped. Corey LaJoie went for a wild ride at Michigan International Speedway on Monday, and NASCAR modified the cars in hopes of raising liftoff speed and keeping cars on all four tires.
“We got to figure out how to keep cars on the ground," driver Joey Logano said. "We're not doing very well right now.”
Michael McDowell's No. 34 Ford looked like it was headed for a flip just a few laps earlier. Cindric turned McDowell sideways with while bump-drafting, and McDowell's car lifted off the ground after getting hit in the driver's-side door by Logano.
McDowell's car stopped just short of flipping.
Pit road meltdown
Daniel Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet had a meltdown on pit road – literally.
Suarez’s trunk caught fire following a pit stop, a strange series of events that ended his night after 37 laps.
It started when Suarez and Denny Hamlin got stacked up behind Harrison Burton on pit road. Hamlin’s engine seemed to backfire while his exhaust hovered over spilled fuel. That sparked a fire that spread to the read of Suarez’s car. By the time Suarez turned a lap under caution, the fire had engulfed the entire rear of his car.
“Just a bad deal,” Suarez said. “I could feel heat in my back, but I could not see it. Very unfortunate.”
Up next
NASCAR moves to Darlington Raceway for the last chance for drivers to secure those coveted playoff spots.
The Cook Out Southern 500 is set for Sunday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.
