Burton beat Kyle Busch by 0.047 seconds on the overtime restart, giving Wood Brothers Racing its 100th Cup win, after a race that was stopped by three large wrecks.
Burton took the overtime win at Daytona, beating Kyle Busch by 0.047 seconds and giving Wood Brothers Racing its 100th Cup victory. The race ran 164 laps and was interrupted by three large wrecks.
Harrison Burton won the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on 24 August 2024, passing a fast-closing Kyle Busch on the final lap of an overtime finish. The win was Burton's first in the Cup Series and the 100th Cup victory for Wood Brothers Racing, and it came in a race that was held up by three large wrecks.
When and where was the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 held?
The race was held on 24 August 2024 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the 25th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The event was scheduled for 160 laps, but an overtime finish extended it to 164 laps on the 2.5 mile, 4.0 km superspeedway.
The track has been the home of the Daytona 500 since it opened in 1959. It also hosts ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA and motocross races, which gives the venue a wide mix of events across the year.
The speedway offers several layouts. The primary 2.5 mile, 4.0 km high-speed tri-oval is joined by a 3.56 mile, 5.73 km sports car course, a 2.95 mile, 4.75 km motorcycle course and a quarter-mile, 0.40 km karting and flat-track course. The infield covers 180 acres (73 ha) and contains Lake Lloyd, a 29-acre (12 ha) lake that has hosted powerboat racing.
A race stopped by three big wrecks ended with a 0.047 second overtime win that gave Wood Brothers Racing its 100th Cup victory.
How did the track come to host this race?
NASCAR founder William Bill France Sr. built the speedway in 1959 to replace an earlier road course on the beach. He designed the banking so that cars could go faster and spectators could see more of the field.
Floodlights went up in 1998, and the venue is now counted as the third-biggest lit outdoor sports facility of its kind. Renovations have come in stages: the infield was redone in 2004, and the surface was repaved in 1978 and again in 2010.
Work called Daytona Rising began in 2013 and was completed in January 2016 at a cost of US$400 million. The project removed the backstretch seating and redeveloped the frontstretch, leaving 101,000 permanent seats that could be increased to 125,000.
What penalty did Denny Hamlin face before the race?
NASCAR imposed a 75-point penalty on Denny Hamlin before the race, after Toyota self-reported an infraction from the May race at Darlington. The car had used an engine from the Bristol race winner at Darlington, but the engine was taken to Toyota's California factory for a rebuild instead of going to NASCAR for inspection.
The team lost the credit for its Darlington win for playoff seeding and received a further ten playoff points. The penalty was significant for a driver seeking a place in the playoffs, and it shaped the mood of the weekend.
Who won the pole, and how did the opening laps go?
Michael McDowell took the pole with a time of 49.136 seconds, a speed of 183.165 mph (294.775 km/h). He led the first lap with his teammate Todd Gilliland side by side, and by the third lap the cars behind them had formed a third row.
McDowell was passed for the lead on the fifth lap by Gilliland, and then Joey Logano took the lead on the sixth. Josh Berry became the leader on the 7th lap, and Brad Keselowski went in front on the 8th lap, with Berry briefly retaking it the next lap before Keselowski returned to the front.
Cindric and Berry traded places through the early laps, and Logano and Keselowski were frequent challengers at the front. Berry finally held on to win the first stage on the 35th lap, which was the first stage win of his career.
On the 27th lap Cindric went to the front, but Berry passed him on the same lap. Logano was in front again on the 30th lap, and the stage carried on at a pace set by the leaders.
How did the second stage bring the first big wreck?
Fuel spilled during a pit stop for Daniel Suarez, and Denny Hamlin drove over the spill and set it alight. The fire spread to the rear of Suarez's car as he drove off pit road, and the crews could not put it out when he returned to the pit lane.
Suarez got out unhurt, and he could have carried on with a charred rear, but he chose to end his race. Logano won the race off pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 42.
Chris Buescher battled Logano for several laps, and Bubba Wallace took the lead on the 46th lap. Buescher went in front on the 48th lap, and Chase Briscoe took the lead the next lap before Wallace passed him again.
On the 60th lap the first of three big incidents occurred on the backstretch. Corey LaJoie pushed Noah Gragson at the wrong angle, turning Gragson into Justin Haley, and the chain reaction spun several cars and collected 19 in total. Buescher was first off pit road and led the restart on lap 67.
Shane van Gisbergen's engine expired on the 81st lap, releasing smoke and fluid onto the track and causing a fire on the right side of his car. Logano took back the lead on the last lap of the stage, the 95th lap, and won the stage.
How did the final stage end in a second big wreck?
McDowell took the lead off pit road and set the pace on the restart on the 101st lap with 60 laps to go. Justin Haley took the lead with 42 laps to go, and with 23 to go Nemechek tried to pass but was bumped by Kyle Larson, which sent him spinning across Haley's nose and brought out the fifth caution.
Austin Cindric came off pit road in front and ran at the head of the restart with 16 laps to go. Keselowski tried to take the lead but beat Cindric to the restart box, and he was penalised and had to drive down pit road. Keselowski and his team protested, but their appeals failed.
With 10 laps to go McDowell took the lead from Cindric. Nine laps from the finish Cindric turned him in turn 1, and McDowell's car spun across the track. Logano struck the driver's door of McDowell's car, which rose off the ground and nearly reached the catch fence without flipping.
That was the second big wreck, which brought out the sixth caution and damaged 15 cars. McDowell got out unhurt, and his near flip recalled Tony Stewart's airborne wreck at Talladega in 2012.
What happened in the final wreck and the overtime?
Cindric led the field back to green with three laps to go. With two laps to go, Josh Berry tried to take the lead but was turned by William Byron going down the backstretch. That triggered the third and final big wreck, which took out eight cars and brought out the seventh and final caution.
Berry's car came down onto Cindric's car, and the two cars slid toward the inside wall. Berry's car went airborne, flipped onto its roof and skidded into the inside wall upside down before it came to rest.
The wreck set up the overtime, and Busch led the restart with help from Bell. On the final lap Busch opened a gap, but the cars behind him gradually closed the distance.
Busch held the lead on the backstretch until Burton slipped past him into turn 3, helped by a strong push from Retzlaff. Burton held on against Busch's charge and won by 0.047 seconds, his first Cup win in his 98th start.
How did the results and statistics finish?
| Finish | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing, first career Cup win, team's 100th Cup win |
| Second | Kyle Busch | Finished 0.047 seconds behind |
| Third | Christopher Bell | Overtime top three |
| Fourth | Cody Ware | Best career Cup finish |
| Fifth | Ty Gibbs | Fifth-place finish |
| Seventh | Parker Retzlaff | First top-ten finish, second on the final lap before falling back |
There were 40 lead changes among 16 different drivers. The race had seven cautions for 34 laps and one red flag lasting 6 minutes and 52 seconds. It took 3 hours, 1 minute and 40 seconds, at an average speed of 217.926 km/h (135.413 mph).
What did the win mean for Burton and the team?
Burton was the 14th different winner of the 2024 season. He had been 34th in points before the race, last among the full-time drivers, and the win locked him into the playoffs.
The win was also the 100th Cup Series victory for Wood Brothers Racing, its first since Ryan Blaney won at Pocono in 2017. His mother Kim stood in the pit box, and his father Jeff called the race from the booth.
For Kyle Busch the defeat was a blow to a streak that had run for 20 consecutive seasons since his rookie year in 2005. Bell and Ware had strong results, and Retzlaff's near-win on the final lap was the story for the young driver.
How did the broadcast cover the finish?
NBC Sports covered the race on television, with Leigh Diffey calling it from the booth. It was his first race as the main lap-by-lap commentator after NBC announced that he would replace Rick Allen for the rest of the season.
Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte worked the booth alongside Diffey, while Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jarrett called the race from the NBC pit box. Seconds after Burton's win, Diffey made a call directed at Jeff Burton about his son, which was widely praised online.
MRN carried the race on radio, with Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace in the booth, and Dave Moody calling the action from the tower outside turn 2.
