DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Strip away the fancy cars and lavish race shops. Look beyond the engines that produce enough horsepower to make your chest vibrate as 40 of them roar by. And look beyond the spectacle of a Saturday night sky full of fireworks at the birthplace of NASCAR.

Then you will discover the soul of stock car racing.

It runs in the family.

The Frances are still running the sport after more than three-quarters of a century. The Pettys are still royalty. The Woods continue to have a connection to the sport’s past after winning a NASCAR race for the eighth consecutive decade.

The 23-year-old Woods led to their 100th Cup victory Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. Harrison Burton, who won the cup together with his father Jeff and uncle Ward.

Spotter Jason Jarrett, son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett, helped Harrison Burton do just that, as he was memorably guided to victory in the Daytona 500 by his father Ned during the televised broadcast.

As Burton held off Kyle Busch by 0.047 seconds to win, Jeff Burton punched the air high above the finish line in the NBC broadcast booth.

It was an unexpected conclusion to a thrilling three-hour drama that saw two cars flying through the air, one spinning like a top on its roof after a ride not likely to be seen at Disney World.

Still, there was one person who knew Burton would win.

Eight-year-old Bailey Wood — who could one day be the fourth generation to run the Wood Brothers Racing team — repeatedly said Saturday that Burton would capture his first career Cup victory. Of course, Bailey is biased. His father, Jon, became the team’s president this year. But Bailey was right.

He had confidence, even when others didn’t. Harrison Burton will lose his ride after this season. Josh Berry will replace him. The Woods hadn’t won a race since 2017.

The last driver to win for the team before Saturday night was Ryan Blaney, who admitted he turned into a “fanboy” on the final lap.

Blaney had walked out of the infield care center and was being taken back to his RV in a golf cart when he realized he wouldn’t make it in time to make the final round. He “hopped” off the golf cart to watch the final round on a TV outside another RV in the driver/owner’s parking lot.

“I was booing and screaming,” Blaney said.

After Burton won, Blaney – still in his driver’s uniform – went to Victory Lane and stayed there, enjoying the moment as if he had won the race.

“When I left the Wood Brothers,” Blaney said of his move to Team Penske in 2018, “they told me that even though you leave, you will always be a part of our family.”

As Blaney took it all in, Jon Wood stood in Victory Lane, his phone buzzing and his eyes wide with wonder.

“I’m just trying to understand it,” he told NBC Sports.

Jon turned and looked at his father Eddie and uncle Len.

“I think I’m happiest for those two,” Jon said.

Eddie and Len, along with their sister Kim, were the second generation to lead the family team. They led the team through a period where the team operated on a partial schedule due to lack of funding and doubts about its long-term viability.

After missing the 2008 Coca-Cola 600 — the only time the event, which first took place in 1960, has been held without the Wood Brothers — the team was saved by their family.

Two days after the race, Eddie Wood received a call from Edsell Ford II, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.

“Why haven’t we talked lately?” Ford asked Eddie Wood.

“Mr. Ford, we’ve had such a bad run and I’m so embarrassed,” Wood said. “I’m embarrassed to call you.”

“So you’re telling me I’m broke at 21?”

“Yes sir. It’s broken. Really bad.”

“I’ll fix that.”

Within three days, Eddie and Len Wood were in Detroit to meet with a Ford executive to begin rebuilding the organization.

They would be rewarded in 2011 when Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 and one of the most moving moments occurred. Richard Petty escorted Leonard Wood into Victory Lane that day.

“That was really great,” Eddie Wood said that day.

On Saturday night, the first phone call Eddie Wood got after Burton’s victory was from Dale Inman, the Hall of Fame crew chief who guided his nephew Richard Petty through most of the legend’s career. During the winner’s press conference, Len Wood stepped off the stage to take a call. It was NASCAR chairman Jim France.

While family and friends enjoyed Saturday night, Jeff Burton waited to take a photo with his son and the trophy.

What would that moment mean to him?

“I’ll tell you in 20 years,” Jeff Burton said. “That’s why you take pictures. Moments like that are hard to come by. … I know how special it is and especially here with all the things that go on to make this sport.”

Through the whirlwind of emotions – Harrison Burton wept on his path to victory – Burton tried to hold on to all the special moments.

“I hope I can remember the feeling you have when you cross the finish line and know you’ve won,” he said.

He also hopes to remember another moment in particular.

“It really hit me when I got out of the car and turned around,” he said of getting out near the start/finish line.

“Everybody who has even laid a finger on this race car, on the media side of things, on the management side of things, on my life in terms of my upbringing, my fiancée has been on my side, I turn around, they’re all there.

“It was amazing to see them all running out and celebrating with me.”

It was a family reunion.