Harrison Burton Gets Fired, Wins First NASCAR Cup Race

Harrison Burton won his first NASCAR Cup race, and the Wood Brothers Racing team got their 100th win on Saturday, August 24. Burton, 23, surged to the front on the final lap to take the win at one of NASCAR’s biggest events, the annual summer race at the Daytona International Speedway. In the NBC broadcast booth calling the race was Burton’s Dad, Jeff Burton, a 21-time Cup race winner and one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers.  

Ironically, Burton was informed in July that he would not return to the Wood Brothers team in 2025. 

“I obviously got fired from this job,” Burton said after the race in this AP, ESPN story. At the moment, Burton does not have a ride for 2025, but that will surely change after grabbing his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.

 

Burton’s win gave the iconic Wood Brothers a long-awaited 100th race win. The team had not won a race since 2017 (Pocono with Ryan Blaney), and before that in 2011 at the Daytona 500 (Trevor Bayne).

The Wood Brothers have been a NASCAR mainstay for 74 years since their founding in 1950. Several of the sport’s biggest names have driven the #21 Ford, including David Pearson (NASCAR’s #2 winningest driver), A.J. Foyt, Neil Bonnett, Buddy Baker, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and others. The team began with Glen and Leonard Wood, along with three other Wood Brothers, and continues today with the Wood Family still owning and operating the oldest team in NASCAR.

 

The younger Burton drove his first Cup race in 2021 at Talladega, with his best race finish at #3 in 2022 at Indianapolis. The Wood Brothers hired Harrison Burton to drive the #21 full-time in July 2021. He is part of the Burton racing family: father Jeff, Uncle Ward, and cousin Jeb have all competed in the NASCAR Cup Series (Jeb now runs in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series.)

NASCAR has long been a family oriented sport, with multiple generations becoming race winners. The list includes the 3-generation Petty Family (Lee, Richard, Kyle), Ned and son Dale Jarrett, Bobby, brother Donnie, and Bobby’s son Davey Allison, Dale and son Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Bill and son Chase Elliott, Buck and son Buddy Baker.

 

That exclusive club now includes Jeff and Harrison Burton.

 

“These moments are hard to come by. …,” said Jeff Burton at the Victory Lane celebration. “I know how special it is and especially here with all the things that happen to make this sport.” (NBC Sports.)

 

Now, if Harrison Burton only had a job for 2025.

HARRISON BURTON IS A NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNER!!! pic.twitter.com/6nxp8b8rBf

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 25, 2024

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Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist. He has written 24 books; available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.com.

 

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