Harrison Burton wins at Daytona, delivers Wood Bros #100, Larson holds P1 Ranking

25 August 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News

DAYTONA BEACH, FL — Daytona delivers another overtime thriller and a NASCAR Cup Series Playoff shakeup Saturday night as the regular season nears completion. Harrison Burton held off veteran Kyle Busch and emerged victorious in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, claiming his first career Cup Series win and giving Wood Brothers Racing their 100th win in NASCAR’s top series.

Harrison Burton, driver of the #21 DEX Imaging Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 24, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Burton Takes Home the Daytona 400 in Overtime Thriller (Image Credit: NASCARonNBC)

On the overtime restart, Burton got a huge push on the backstretch from rookie driver Parker Retzlaff, powering Burton’s №21 Wood Brothers Ford Mustang to pull alongside and pass race leader Kyle Busch, who held on for a 2nd place finish.

The win sends Burton into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after a difficult year and already being told he lost his seat and won’t be back in the 21 next season.

GFT AI Driver Rankings after Daytona

Go Full Throttle Top 25 NASCAR AI Driver Rankings following the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 25, 2024 at Daytona International Raceway (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

With his 4 wins, Kyle Larson holds onto a P1 ranking in our AI models, even with a 21st-place finish after getting caught up in one of “the Big Ones” late in the race. Denny Hamlin was also a casualty of the Big One ending his night early and exiting the race with a 38th place finish, yet still holding onto P2 in the GFT Driver Rankings.

GFT NASCAR BOX SCORES

Go Full Throttle NASCAR Cup Series Box Scores following the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 25, 2024 at Daytona International Raceway (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

After 25 Races …
Manufactures Box Score:
Chevrolet = 11
Toyota = 8
Ford = 6

Team Box Score:
Hendrick Motorsports = 9

Driver Box Score:
Kyle Larson = 4 wins

NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF PICTURE

With Harrison Burton’s “win and in” to the Playoffs, Ross Chastain (-27) is pushed down to P18 and Bubba Wallace (-21) is just outside the Playoff grid in P17. The battle between Gibbs, Buescher, Chastain and Wallace is going to be intense at Darlington- the final race of the regular season.

GFT AI NASCAR Fantasy LIVE — holding on in the top 15%

134 points was a result of most of our picks getting a DNF or significant damage in “The Big One” reflecting the same scenario as the 119-point day at Talladega. Even so, the GFT AI model remains top 15% of all players in the TMD NASCAR Fantasy Live league.

Looking Ahead: The Next Race

As the excitement of the Daytona overtime finish settles, all eyes are now on Darlington for the regular season finally and to settle who earns the three spots in the NASCAR Playoffs.