The 23-year-old son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Burton only led one lap on Saturday night at Daytona, but it was one that mattered most. Burton entered the penultimate round of the regular season 34th -- dead last in the championship standings among full-time drivers.
"As a person, I’ve just grown a lot in the hardship," he said of the struggles. "That’s where you grow as a person, is when things are hard. I’ve just had more times than I want, (going) to the shop and look at a mistake I made on film, look at a move I missed on film, look at a wreck I couldn’t control or whatever. All these things seemed to add up and add up and add up ... For me, I think I’ve grown a lot in that hardship. I found out a lot about myself."
To get there, he had to out-duel 2x NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, pulling two massive blocks in the run to the line. Speaking on that final lap, Burton said: "You can’t count out Kyle Busch, right? I was trying to put myself in his shoes of what is he thinking, what is he trying to do to pass me? Where is his help with Christopher and all that? To be honest, once I made the block and pulled across his nose, kind of took all his energy by making a late block, to where obviously I almost crashed, but that’s what I needed to do to take the energy away from him, then I thought I had kind of done it. Until then, I wasn’t feeling comfortable out there, that’s for sure."
Not only did Burton secure himself a spot in the 2024 playoffs, but he gets credit for earning the legendary Wood Brothers their 100th NASCAR Cup victory. He joins names such as Pearson, Yarborough, Bonnett, Jarrett, and Baker as drivers who have reached Victory Lane in the red and white No. 21.
An uncertain future
The team last captured the checkered flag in 2017 with Ryan Blaney when the future Cup champion won at Pocono. Burton was candid about his situation in his emotional front-stretch interview: "Obviously got fired from this job, (but) I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could."
Over the last three years, he has an average finish around 24th with 2024 appearing to be the worst yet -- until Daytona. He has yet to announce any plans for next year, but in this moment, he is just thankful to be behind the wheel of the iconic No. 21.
"You never know when you have a chance to drive again," said Burton. "You never know when you have a chance. This could all fall apart tomorrow. This is such a privilege to do every weekend. Even if you run in the Trucks series or the Xfinity Series or late models, it’s such a privilege to get to drive a race car.
"I get the privilege to drive the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing. That to me is all you need, right? I’ve had a chance to do that for three years, to work with these guys for three years, learn all I can. I’m confident in myself as a driver that I can do things when I’m at my best. Tonight I feel I was at my best. I feel like it worked out. Obviously we got fortunate at times, too. But when the chips are down, we all did a good job. Jason Jarrett, my spotter, did a good job of making things work out perfectly."
A family tradition
Harrison is not the first Burton win at Daytona. His uncle Ward won the 2002 Daytona 500, but 24 years ago, his father Jeff won this very race while driving the No. 99 Ford for Jack Roush. On Saturday night, he was in the broadcast booth when his son crossed the line.
"I guess I’ll finish on my dad without making fun of him," joked the younger Burton. "He’s been there for me, he’s called me when I don’t want to answer his phone call after a bad race, talked me through what I need to do, how I need to handle things.
"He obviously raised me, and my mom as well, both raised me to be the guy that I am today. I’m proud of that off the racetrack alone. Then to make the nights that my mom spent on the road quarter midget racing with me while my dad was Cup racing, to make the effort that my dad took away from his Cup racing opportunity to help me in quarter midgets and late model racing to make that worth it to win at the Cup level, I’ve been told by him that he’s not proud of me based off whether I win or lose, it’s how I handle myself and what I do."
