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Harrison Burton wins race; recap, highlights

Vaseline August 25, 2024

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season was down to the penultimate regular season race at the Daytona International Speedway. Multiple playoff positions were up for grabs entering the first Saturday race of the year.

Daytona did not disappoint.

Seven caution periods saw nearly half of the field taken out of contention, including championship leaders Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson. Kyle Busch, searching for his first win of the year, led the thinned-out field in overtime for the final restart. But Harrison Burton made his way past the two-time champion on the final lap to earn his first career Cup Series win and punch his ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The big one: NASCAR driver Josh Berry OK after scary, upside down collision with wall during Daytona race

“It’s been the hardest three years of my life and some of these guys’ lives,” Burton said after the race, gesturing to his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford crew. “To win in the way that we just did and beat the best in the business, Kyle Busch, across the line, it’s pretty fantastic.”

Wood Brothers Racing announced Josh Berry will be racing the No. 21 Ford starting next year, leaving Burton without a seat. He now gets to see out his final season with the team in the playoffs after earning their 100th win in team history.

“To get them (win number) 100 on my way out is amazing,” Burton said post-race. “We’re in the playoffs now, let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”

Busch finished second with Christopher Bell in third. Burton became the 14th winner this season and 13th driver to qualify for the playoffs. Three spots still remain in contention next weekend in the regular season finale in Darlington.

Penalty stands: Appeals panel upholds NASCAR penalty to Austin Dillon after crash-filled win

2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 highlights

A relatively calm early opening part of the race saw Josh Berry win Stage 1. Daniel Suárez’s No. 99 Chevrolet had the biggest early surprise when fuel caught fire during the first pit stops and spread to his rear bumper.

Lap 60 saw the first crash of the race when Corey Lajoie and Noah Gragson made contact and collected 18 cars.

Joey Logano won Stage 2 on as Ford drivers spent most of the race in control at the front. Things stayed relatively uneventful until Lap 150 when polesitter Michael McDowell spun and caused another big wreck.

Seven laps later, leaders Austin Cindric and Berry made contact, causing the latter to flip onto the roof of the No. 4 Ford.

That led to an overtime restart with Burton grabbing the win from a late pass on Busch.

A final-lap pass gave Harrison Burton the lead and he’d hold on for his first career Cup Series win.

Kyle Busch is in the lead with Christopher Bell close behind and pushing him.

Seven caution periods have thinned out the field. Kyle Busch, Harrison Burton, Christopher Bell, and Parker Retzlaff fill out the first two rows with nearly half the field out of the race.

Contact at the front between Josh Berry and Austin Cindric caused another big wreck. Berry flipped the No. 4 Ford but he later exited the car and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd.

The restart sees Cindric leading the way with three laps to go.

Austin Cindric had too much speed from Josh Berry pushing him from behind and went to move down the lane but clipped McDowell, sending him around and up while collecting another dozen cars.

The leaders made contact in turn 3 with the likes of Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson involved.

The RFK Racing driver launched too early and passed Cindric before the start-finish line on the restart. He went through the pits on Lap 148 to serve his penalty.

Austin Cindric leads Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson after the caution period and final pit stops.

NASCAR wants to finish races under green as much as possible. Because of that, overtime is allowed if there’s a late caution period (within the final two laps of the finish). The race will be extended through the caution period if it goes past the original lap allotment. Once it ends, there will be at least two laps of racing.

The leaders made contact when Nemechek moved down to the bottom lane after a tap from Kyle Larson. Nemechek spun but maintained control and is back up to speed.

Nemechek’s joined by Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace in the top five. Justin Haley leads ahead of Josh Berry, Bell, Nemechek, and Wallace.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is having a rough day in Daytona and now sits four laps down.

The 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner swept into the bottom lane to take the lead from McDowell.

Cindric had a small snap of steering and nearly hit Berry in the top lane.

The lone Legacy Motor Club driver left in the race is up to third after starting 31st. He’s behind Michael McDowell and Justin Haley at the front of the field.

Polesitter Michael McDowell was big climber during the pit stops and leads the way to start the final stage ofthe Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stayed out as the rest of the field pitted to save an extra lap of fuel. Kyle Busch and Harrison Burton benefitted from the stops and are now third and sixth, respectively.

Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Larson
Todd Gilliland
Justin Haley
Kyle Busch
William Byron
Chris Buescher
Bubba Wallace

Kyle Larson and Joey Logano lead the field with seven laps to go in Stage 2.

Daniel Suárez
Ryan Preece
Denny Hamlin
Noah Gragson
Chase Elliott
Shane van Gisbergen

The No. 43 car suffered a puncture and used the yellow flag period from van Gisbergen’s engine failure to stay on the lead lap.

The full-time Xfinity Series driver was in good position near the top 10 before the engine gave out in spectacular fashion. This was his first race in the Cup Series since the Grant Park 165.

Cindric nearly lost control of his No. 2 Ford after contact with Kyle Larson. Cindric dropped down below the three racing lines to gather himself and stay in it. He’s down to 19th on Lap 80 from second prior to the contact.

The Team Penske driver has led the most laps so far tonight and is out front once again ahead of teammates Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver was in contention for the regular season championship but the Lap 60 wreck took him out. This marks his first DNF of 2024.

Buescher and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski lead the field as the track goes green.

Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and more than a dozen others are assessing the damage to see if they can return to the race.

Buescher takes the lead after a round of pit stops following Gragson’s wreck. Blaney is up five spots and into the top 10 of the order.

The first contact finally happened as chaos breaks out outside the top 10. Noah Gragson made contact after a big push from Corey Lajoie and Kyle Larson and collected multiple cars. Denny Hamlin is one of the most notable names to be knocked out of the race as the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is now under caution.

After biding his time much through Stage 1, Wallace made a late push to be near the top 10 prior to pitting. He’s now in the lead after the first round of pit stops and using the higher lanes to stay in front.

Joey Logano gets a push from Austin Cindric into the lead in the higher lane of the field.

Suárez returned back to pit road after his stop when the No. 99 car caught on fire. Suárez safely exited the car and the Trackhouse Racing crew put the fire out quickly in pit road. Replay showed spilled fuel from Suárez’s pit stop caught fire from Denny Hamlin, ultimately burning the No. 99 car.

After 35 laps, here’s how the top 10 looked at the end of Stage 1:

Josh Berry
Joey Logano
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
Ryan Blaney
Todd Gilliland
Brad Keselowski
Michael McDowell
William Byron
Kyle Larson

The Team Penske driver used the high line to move to the front before dropping back a few places in the closing laps of Stage 1.

The Legacy Motor Club driver is up 22 positions from the start as the top passer so far through lap 22.

The Ally 400 winner is using the top two lines to lead the field, moving between the two on the straights.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver’s now up in the front of the bottom lane before Berry went high to get the lead as they cross the start-finish line.

McDowell’s moved up the track to the highest lane, leaving the lower spots open for Brad Keselowski and Josh Berry. Keselowski’s now up to the lead in the lowest lane.

Austin Cindric’s leading a third line highest on the oval. McDowell and Todd Gilliland lead the bottom and middle lanes, respectivel.y

The green flag flies as Michael McDowell leads an all-RFK Racing front row to start the race.

NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400: How to watch

Date: Aug. 24, 2024
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Daytona International Speedway
TV: NBC
Streaming: Peacock, NBCSports.com, fuboTV

NASCAR Cup Series: Catch all the action from the 2024 Cup Series playoffs with a Peacock subscription

Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was spotted pre-race with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.

RFK Racing’s Michael McDowell is starting on pole position for the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford

2. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford

3. (22) Joey Logano, Ford

4. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford

5. (4) Josh Berry, Ford

6. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford

7. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet

8. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford

9. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet

10. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet

11. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet

12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford

13. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford

14. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford

15. (10) Noah Gragson, Ford

16. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

17. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota

18. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota

19. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota

20. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford

21. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet

22. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet

23. (33) Austin Hill, Chevrolet

24. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet

25. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota

26. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota

27. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota

28. (31) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet

29. (62) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet

30. (71) Zane Smith, Chevrolet

31. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota

32. (16) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet

33. (15) Cody Ware, Ford

34. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet

35. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet

36. (51) Justin Haley, Ford

37. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet

38. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet

39. (44) Joey Gase, Chevrolet

40. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota

Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Chris Buescher are separated by just 16 points. Only two will be able to make the playoffs unless there’s a new winner for 2024 who is currently behind them on points.

The Cup Series playoffs begin on Sunday, Sept. 8 with the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Here’s the full playoff schedule:

Round of 16

Sept. 8: Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart | Atlanta Motor Speedway | 3 p.m. ET | USA Network
Sept. 15: Go Bowling at The Glen | Watkins Glen International | 3 p.m. ET | USA Network
Sept. 21: Bass Pro Shops Night Race | Bristol Motor Speedway | 7:30 p.m. ET | USA Network

Round of 12

Sept. 29: Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET | Kansas Speedway | 3 p.m. ET | USA Network
Oct. 6: YellaWood 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | 2 p.m. ET | NBC
Oct. 13: Bank of America Roval 400 | Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) | 2 p.m. ET | NBC

Round of 8

Oct. 20: South Point 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | 2:30 p.m. ET | NBC
Oct. 27: Straight Talk Wireless 400 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | 2:30 p.m. ET | NBC
Nov. 3: Xfinity 500 | Martinsville Speedway | 2 p.m. ET | NBC

Championship 4

Nov. 10: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race | Phoenix Raceway | 3 p.m. ET | NBC

After the Coke Zero Sugar 400, there’s just one race left in the regular season: the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Round 26 of the Cup Series schedule is the final push for the playoffs.

William Byron won the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 19, 2024, taking the lead on a restart with four laps remaining before edging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman as a crash broke out just as Byron took the white flag for the final lap.

RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher won the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Through 25 championship races in 2024, 13 different drivers have won a NASCAR Cup race, including:

William Byron (Daytona 500, EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Cook Out 400)
Daniel Suárez (Ambetter Health 400)
Kyle Larson (Pennzoil 400, AdventHealth 400, Toyota/Save Mart 350, Brickyard 400)
Christopher Bell (Shriners Children’s 500, Coca-Cola 600, USA Today 301)
Denny Hamlin (Food City 500, Toyota Owners 400, Würth 400)
Chase Elliott (Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400)
Tyler Reddick (GEICO 500, FireKeepers Casino 400)
Brad Keselowski (Goodyear 400)
Austin Cindric (Enjoy Illinois 300)
Ryan Blaney (Iowa Corn 350, Great American Getaway 400)
Joey Logano (Ally 400)
Alex Bowman (Grant Park 165)
Austin Dillon* (Cook Out 400)

*= Dillon won the race but had playoff eligibility removed for it.

Logano and Ty Gibbs won the NASCAR All-Star Race and NASCAR All-Star Open, respectively, but neither race counts towards the championship.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is 160 laps around the 2.5-mile track for a total of 400 miles. The race will feature three segments (laps per stage) – Stage 1: 35 laps; Stage 2: 60 laps; Stage 3: 65 laps.

The NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be broadcast on NBC.

You can watch a live stream of the NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Peacock and fuboTV.

Today’s forecast from AccuWeather predicts temperatures in the mid-80s with a 49% chance of rain at 7 p.m. ET.

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