DAYTONA BEACH – Another summer race has ended and another checkered flag has been raised over another driver no one saw coming.
Let’s take a look at the takeaways…
1. Wood Brothers delivered another unexpected win.
Add Harrison Burton’s name to the growing list of surprise Daytona winners.
In fact, can we call any winner here a surprise?
Burton, the 23-year-old racer who was heading to the unemployment line, managed to survive the carnage that swallowed up many of the competitors in the final laps. All that remained was to pass one of the best racers of all time – Kyle Busch, who was somewhat desperate for the win and a place in the playoffs.
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It wasn’t as easy as it looked, as Bush gave it his all on the final turn toward the strip.
This puts the Wood Brothers back on the winning track at Daytona, with the organization’s 100th NASCAR win in team history, more than 13 years after their unexpected 2011 Daytona 500 win with Trevor Bayne.
This is the first win in Burton’s career, who learned several weeks ago that he would not be able to keep the No. 21 car next year after three seasons of poor performance.
Until Saturday.
Bottom line: Don’t be too surprised. This is one of three tracks in NASCAR where this kind of thing can happen, along with Talladega and the newest “plate racing” track in Atlanta.
2. Did Harrison Burton improve his chances of getting a job?
The only thing that’s certain about this: it definitely didn’t hurt him.
The whole deal is definitely a happy one.
With Burton’s father Jeff in the broadcast booth, the images evoked Dale Jarrett’s 1993 Daytona 500 win with his father Ned on the call on CBS. The emotion was real for a family that knows how tough this sport is not only on man and machine, but also on the soul.
You lost your ride, but you still have to show up week in and week out and play your hardest, do your best when your heart might think otherwise. And then that’s the real shock of glory on NASCAR’s biggest stage.
This will not affect Harrison Burton’s chances.
But honestly, how much did it help? It was largely about avoiding all the chaos and being there at the end. There’s a lot to be said for Burton’s courage and willingness to keep pushing the throttle hard on the back straight and into Turn 3 when he passed Kyle Busch.
There is a lot to be said for the stubborn way he maintained his lead in the final stage of the race.
But what does that mean for his job prospects in the near future? Given the lack of good drivers in the field and the lack of good drivers on the roads, it may not be enough.
3. Another week, another upside down slide
Well, back to work at NASCAR’s R&D center near Charlotte.
Corey LaJoie’s skydive from the roof of his Michigan home last week caught everyone’s attention. New equipment — an extra rail next to the rear window — was installed on cars this week in an attempt to help avoid such things, as old roof covers and other air-dispersion devices have proven less than bulletproof.
Josh Perry’s crash in the closing laps of Saturday was a wake-up call to the engineers that there was more work to be done. While running in the lead, he was pushed from behind, spun violently sideways and immediately flipped onto the roof of his car. Perry then slid upside down for a long distance before slamming head-on into an inner retaining wall.
The pursuit of safety is as old as racing itself. It seems like they can make these cars 100% safe, and then something happens to tell you they’re only 99% safe.
4. The stands bring the view, the indoor stadium brings the crowd.
NASCAR’s summer race at Daytona may take on the character of the Rolex 24 sports car race, which is largely an indoor event for paying customers.
The stadium attendance was large enough to satisfy most tracks. The stands seemed to be somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000, which is not bad except when compared to the full attendance for the Daytona 500.
At least that’s the verdict of the eye.
However, the indoor stadium was packed with buses, tour trailers and a large number of tents crowding the west-central half of the indoor stadium.
In the hours leading up to Saturday night’s race, track president Frank Kelleher said all camping spots were sold out, as were all trackside suites. He said all 50 states, six countries and six continents had submitted ticket buyers.
5. NASCAR race moves from Daytona to Darlington, followed by playoffs
There is only one race left in the 26-race Cup regular season. It will be held next Sunday at historic Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
After Darlington, we move on to Atlanta and the start of the 10-race qualifying round.
Next up in Daytona is Fall Cycle Scene from October 17-20, coinciding with Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach. Historic Sports Car Racing returns from October 31-November 3, and the World Kart Association returns from December 28-30.
After that, everything points to the Rolex 24 sports car event in January and NASCAR Speedweek in February.