“I can have some closure that way”: Harrison Burton happy to earn Wood Brothers landmark NASCAR win at Daytona

Harrison Burton will leave Wood Brothers Racing at the end of this season, but he was happy to be able to get his team their 100th Cup Series win at Daytona on Sunday. Burton's spot at Wood Brothers Racing will be filled by Josh Berry, who currently drives the No. 4 Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.

The 23-year-old currently drives the No. 21 Ford full-time for Wood Brothers Racing. He has previously driven for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series and Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series.

Burton entered Sunday's race with just one top-10 finish at the GEICO 500 in April and four DNFs. Leaving the team after having delivered their 100th Cup Series race win was like a closure for the 23-year-old driver. Reflecting on the same, he said in a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:

"I'm just so happy. I was so scared to leave this opportunity. Like I keep saying losing this job and not going the way it should have gone and the way it could have gone...so scared to leave this opportunity without getting their 100th win. I mean, how often do you get that opportunity to win the 100th race for the Wood Brothers?"

"They have been teetering on 99 for so long," Burton added. "When I first got hired that's what they told me they wanted me to do. To make that come true is just so cool. I can kind of have some closure in that way and just means a lot."

Burton is one of the 13 drivers locked in the playoffs by wins. His next race is the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 1. The following week, Burton will make his career-first playoff appearance at Atlanta Motor Speedway (September 8).

Harrison Burton recalls last-lap push from Parker Retzlaff

Harrison Burton led just one lap in the 160-lap event, thanks to Parker Retzlaff, who was driving the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro for Beard Motorsports in his career's second Cup Series start. Burton capitalized on the push he got from Retzlaff, which helped him sideline Kyle Busch from the lead.

"Parker Retzlaff...I mean, I can't say enough about Parker Retzlaff and his second-ever Cup race," Harrison Burton said in the same interview. "To push me the way he did. Going through the gears I was crossed up sideways, and he was smart enough to give me enough space to gather it up."

However, reports suggest that Retzlaff's spotter had told him not to help Burton in any way. Speaking of the same, The Racing Underdogs on X (formerly Twitter) posted:

"62 team discussing helping their "teammate" the 8, took a call between CC and spotter off the radio to discuss plans but then Parker picks line behind 21, "do not push that 21 to a win" the spotter says."

Retzlaff drives full-time in the Xfinity Series for Jordan Anderson Racing. JAR has a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, a Cup Series team that Busch drives for. After the race was over, someone on the No.72 Beard Motorsports team was heard saying,

"We did the exact opposite of what they asked us to do."

Harrison Burton currently sits 34th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 266 points to his name. The Daytona win is the 23-year-old's second top-10 finish so far in 2024.