Written by Sean McKean
In a race loaded with close racing and massive shunts, it was Harrison Burton who secured his first career victory at Daytona. It was the 100th win in Wood Brothers Racing’s history.
As it unfolded
The two Front Row Motorsports cars of Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland fittingly led the field to the green. They remained door-to-door until Lap 3, when McDowell assumed the outright lead.
However, aggression was high early, with nine rows of three-wide cars. With this aggression came strong runs, and it allowed Josh Berry and Joey Logano to each surge to the front on Lap 8.
Although the four aforementioned drivers led most proceedings to open, Austin Cindric soon surged into the lead on Lap 28, proving that aggression was only amping up with the stage break only eight laps away.
But the stage win was between Logano, Keselowski and Berry, and a strong push from Chris Buescher allowed Josh Berry to take his first ever stage win at Daytona. He was followed by Logano and Buescher.
Under the caution, everyone elected to pit, but the first DNF of the race occurred during this time. After a fuel leak from the can, Daniel Suarez’s car caught fire dramatically. He was unhurt but out of the race.
Buescher and Logano led the way on the Lap 42 restart, and the aggression continued. Most of the usual names up front remained, but new ones – such as Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe – also headlined.
By Lap 59, a single-file line on the outside started forming, led by Wallace and Buescher. But this calmness was a red herring, as a big crash unfolded on Lap 60.
On the back-straight, Noah Gragson received a push from Corey Lajoie that sent him spinning into the field, collecting ten cars – including Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Gibbs.
Everyone elected to pit under the caution.
Buescher and Logano once again led the way on the restart, but things briefly calmed down, as Buescher led a single-file line from Laps 67 to 75. But the aggression soon amped up once again with the stage end now approaching on Lap 95.
But the yellow flag came out for three separate incidents on Lap 80. First, Erik Jones suffered a left-front puncture, which was then followed by Shane van Gisbergen’s engine expiring and Martin Truex also suffering a puncture. The only retirement from this bunch was van Gisbergen.
The pit strategy was more split in this cycle, only seeing drivers such as Todd Gilliland and Kyle Busch come down.
The Lap 89 restart was led by Joey Logano with only seven laps remaining in the second stage. The field bunched up to tight rows of two for the remainder of the stage, but an outside lane breakaway allowed Joey Logano to win the second stage. He was followed by Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.
Every driver elected to pit, as usual.
Michael McDowell led the field to the green on Lap 101, and the field slowed down the aggression with the long green flag run to be ahead.
The swaps for the lead didn’t stop, however, as Justin Haley – helped by Blaney – got into the lead for the first time on Lap 119.
Just before green flag pit cycles were about to begin, the caution came out. It was John Hunter Nemechek, being pushed by Haley up front, who went for a spin down the back-straight. He drove away unscathed.
Unsurprisingly, everyone chose to pit. No major issues happened; Austin Cindric and Keselowski were the first two out of pit road.
The 16-to-go restart was bunched up and chaotic, with pushes getting more aggressive, but it all boiled over with nine laps remaining.
A push that went awry from Austin Cindric sent Michael McDowell into a spin in Turn 1, sending him into the air and back in front of the field. It collected 12 more cars. Everyone walked away unhurt. McDowell, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Justin Haley retired due to the crash.
There were no front-running takers for the pit lane.
The restart started clean, but a bad push from William Byron caused a massive crash on the backstretch with two laps to go.
Cindric was spun, who then got hooked into Josh Berry – sending both into a spin. Berry took flight and landed on his roof – sliding until he hit the inside wall hard. Thankfully, he walked away unhurt.
Aside from Berry, 13 other cars were involved, including Byron, Gilliland, and Austin Dillon.
The last restart was led by Kyle Busch, and he defended with all of his might. However, a final-lap push by Parker Retzlaff allowed Harrison Burton to take his first career win in a mighty upset. Kyle Busch finished second with his effort. Christopher Bell closed out a quiet race in third.
Provisional Results:
#21 Harrison Burton (Wood Brothers Racing)
#8 Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing)
#20 Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
#15 Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing)
#54 Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
#23 Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
#62 Parker Retzlaff (Beard Motorsports)
#6 Brad Keselowski (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)
#31 Daniel Hemric (Kaulig Racing)
#17 Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)
#77 Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)
#1 Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing)
#71 Zane Smith (Spire Motorsports)
#14 Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Racing)
#42 John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club)
#48 Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
#43 Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club)
#2 Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
#78 BJ McLeod (Live Fast Motorsports)
#44 Joey Gase (NY Racing)
#5 Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]
#3 Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) [DNF]
#38 Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) [DNF]
#19 Martin Truex (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]
#33 Austin Hill (Richard Childress Racing) [DNF]
#4 Josh Berry (Stewart-Haas Racing) [DNF]
#24 William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]
#45 Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) [DNF]
#12 Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) [DNF]
#34 Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports) [DNF]
#22 Joey Logano (Team Penske) [DNF]
#51 Justin Haley (Rick Ware Racing) [DNF]
#47 Ricky Stenhouse (JTG-Daugherty Racing) [DNF]
#7 Corey Lajoie (Spire Motorsports) [DNF]
#16 Shane van Gisbergen (Kaulig Racing) [DNF]
#9 Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]
#10 Noah Gragson (Stewart-Haas Racing) [DNF]
#11 Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]
#41 Ryan Preece (Stewart-Haas Racing) [DNF]
#99 Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]
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