Harrison Burton “cried the whole victory lap” after beating Kyle Busch to win Coke Zero Sugar 400

Harrison Burton secured the 100th Cup race win for Wood Brothers Racing at Daytona at the cost of RCR veteran Kyle Busch.

Harrison Burton “cried the whole victory lap” after beating Kyle Busch to win Coke Zero Sugar 400

Harrison Burton and Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)

The 2024 season hasn’t been kind to NASCAR legend Jeff Burton’s son Harrison Burton after he was fired by Wood Brother Racing for the 2025 season amidst poor run that saw him placed P34 in the championship till Daytona. He gave the team the best parting gift possible by winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and marking WBR’s 100th Cup race win.

Harrison Burton won the race fare and squire beating two times champion Kyle Busch clean on the final laps and getting his maiden NASCAR win emotionally overwhelmed him. He admitted in the post-race interview that he was crying the whole victory lap as he wanted to do this for a longtime for WBR for the opportunity they gave him.

YouTube video
I cried the whole victory lap. Obviously got fired from this job. I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them 100 on my way out is amazing. We’re in the playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens. …
Harrison Burton told NBC Sports.

What makes his first victory since making Cup debut in 2022 more special is the fact that it came against Kyle Busch, the winningest driver on the current grid. This makes the hardship faced by him and the team much more worthwhile. This also was statement win, asserting that eh deserves a seat for 2025.

FS Video
It’s been the hardest three years of my life, obviously the hardest three years for some of these guys’ lives. To win the way we just did, beat the best in the business, Kyle Busch, across the line, it’s pretty fantastic.
Harrison Burton added.
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Kyle Busch is frustrated with the result

While the young burton was celebrating the win, Kyle Busch was on the sideline lamenting another missed opportunity. The result was very frustrating for him and revealed that he wasn’t able secure the win because he didn’t get the right push from former JGR teammate Christopher Bell on the final laps of the race.

Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)
It’s just frustrating. We’ve led races here at Daytona going into the last restart and haven’t been able to pull off a victory. Not sure what it is; what I’m doing wrong or what it is that I’m missing. It seems like the energy broke up off of Turn 2 and the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) got crooked and wasn’t on my rear bumper the way we needed to be.
Kyle Busch said.

The veteran deserves some appreciation for how clean he was on the final lap. No one would have blamed him if he wrecked Burton for the win, but he kept true to his values and raced clean. The decision might have cost him the best shot he ever had this season to keep his at least a win a season streak alive.

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