For the first time in more than six decades, the NASCAR Cup Series is traveling with a passport.
Ben Kennedy, the sport’s executive vice president, chief venue & racing innovations officer, was on site in Mexico City Tuesday to announce NASCAR’s top racing division will conduct a points-paying event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in June 2025, marking the series’ first official visit outside the United States since 1958.
Joining Kennedy for the historic announcement was Daniel Suárez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, who began his NASCAR journey in the NASCAR Mexico Series before graduating to the Xfinity Series in 2015 and won the championship one year later. Now an eight-year veteran of NASCAR’s premier series and locked into the Cup Series Playoffs courtesy of a February win at Atlanta, Suárez sat in awe Tuesday of what lies ahead in 10 months.
“Exactly 10 years ago, I was here racing NASCAR Mexico in 2014,” Suárez said via teleconference. “And I won a race here before winning NASCAR Mexico and moving full time to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015. And I knew that some years before my time, the NASCAR Xfinity Series had the opportunity to come to Mexico for a few years and I remember thinking, what a dream would be for me to race the NASCAR Cup Series one day in my country. I remember thinking that. And fast forward now nine years later, here we are.”
Chase Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion and six-time defending most popular driver, scored his first NASCAR national series victory in 2013, when the Craftsman Truck Series ventured north of the border for an event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On Tuesday, Elliott praised the direction in which the sport is headed.
“The leadership group at NASCAR has been exploring a lot of different things that historically would probably have never happened, so I give them a lot of credit for that,” Elliott said in a separate teleconference. “I think to get outside the country is really a pretty cool thing. And it’s a pretty cool honor for us to have a following big enough to be able to leave and go somewhere and have an event and draw a big enough crowd for it to be successful. I think it’s really good and it’s healthy, and it’s something that we should probably look at doing if it goes well.”
Suárez competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series as recently as February, running and winning the season-opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Aiding Tuesday’s unveiling was a vast and overwhelming crowd before Suárez, Kennedy and accompanying dignitaries, highlighting the local buzz for the upcoming marquee event.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Suárez said. “You know, there’s a lot of people excited here in Mexico today. Today already is a day that we’re going to remember for a very, very long time. We were talking last night at dinner that today, we’re making history. Today, we’re bringing the biggest series of stock-car (racing) in the world to Mexico City for a points race for the very first time in the modern era. So it’s unbelievable.
“I feel very, very humbled and blessed to be part of this announcement today, and I cannot tell you how many people were down downstairs today recording and taking pictures of this moment. The energy was unbelievable — and we’re still a lot of months away from the race. So I’m just very happy. I couldn’t be happier today. Today is a day that I will remember for a very long time.”
NASCAR officials announced Tuesday that the Cup Series will race in Mexico next season, adding the first international points event in the division’s modern history to the 2025 schedule.
The historic race is scheduled for Sunday, June 15, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, the nation’s capital. A companion race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is scheduled for the preceding day. The Cup Series event will air live on Prime Video, while Saturday’s Xfinity Series tilt will air live on The CW.
“This has been on our radar for a long time,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president, chief venue & racing innovation officer. “We’ve been talking about the continued iteration of our schedule, right? You can go back a few years, went to new markets like Nashville and Austin, Texas. We went to the Coliseum for the Clash. … We went to our first street race in downtown Chicago, and this is going to be another first for us in a lot of ways. This is going to be certainly a monumental event for us, the first time we’re going south of the border.”
Although a points-paying Cup Series event in Mexico will be a first, NASCAR has long held a position in the country. The Hermanos Rodríguez circuit hosted four races in the Xfinity Series from 2005-08, and three current Cup Series stars are among its winners — Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
NASCAR has also sanctioned the NASCAR México Series since its formation in 2004, and the Hermanos Rodríguez course will be the site of this year’s season finale on Nov. 3. Mexican-born Cup Series driver Daniel Suárez — who won the series’ season opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February — is among those who have emerged from that tour.
“This, for me, is like a dream,” Suárez said at Tuesday’s announcement. “This is really a dream come true. Exactly 10 years ago, I was here racing NASCAR Mexico in 2014, and I won a race here before leaving NASCAR México and moving full-time to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015, and I knew that some, some years before my time, the NASCAR Xfinity Series had the opportunity to come to Mexico for a few years and I remember thinking what a dream it would be for me to race the NASCAR Cup Series one day in my country. I remember thinking that, and fast forward now nine years later, and here we are in Mexico City.”
Kennedy said the partnership with Mexico City is a multiyear deal, and the expansion of the Cup Series’ footprint outside the United States borders marks the latest innovative step taken by NASCAR’s schedule makers in recent seasons. The Cup Series held two races in Canada in its earliest years — a 1952 event won by Buddy Shuman at Stamford Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and a 1958 meet at the Canadian Exposition Stadium in Toronto where Lee Petty prevailed and his son, Richard, made the first of his record 1,184 Cup starts. The series also held a series of exhibition races in Japan from 1996-98.
Kennedy said returning the sport’s top division to the global stage has long been a priority.
“It’s huge,” Kennedy said. “When we talk as a leadership team about where we feel like our biggest growth opportunities as a sport is, international is always one of the first things that comes up. … We brought the Craftsman Truck Series to Canada for a number of years, we’ve had the Xfinity Series in Mexico. This is a monumental moment for our sport in the sense that this is our first step of really taking the Cup Series internationally, and I think it could set us up for the future in potential new markets. I think we’ve been honest about our interest in taking our Cup Series abroad, whether that’s north of the border or south of the border, and then as we talk about some of our other races, there are opportunities for us to take the Cup Series even further than that.
“So, it’s going to be a big project for us. There’s a lot of questions that we have. I’m sure that the industry will have some questions as well, but excited to take this on, and to go to one of the biggest markets — not just in the country, but in the world — is going to be huge for our sport.”
The Mexico City track — which has road course and oval configurations — has hosted various series since its construction in 1959. The circuit, named in honor of racing brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez shortly after it opened, was remodeled in 2015 and has hosted eight Formula 1 grands prix since then.
NASCAR used a 2.518-mile layout during the Xfinity Series races in 2005-08, short of the full 2.674-mile, 17-turn course. Kennedy said the race lengths for both the Cup and Xfinity Series races were in development.
Kennedy said NASCAR will partner with OCESA, which promotes the Mexico City Grand Prix for Formula 1 and has organized other large-scale entertainment events in the country.
“At OCESA, we are dedicated to entertaining people, and this has positioned us as the most powerful live events platform in Mexico and Latin America, as well as one of the most important globally,” said Alejandro Soberón, Founder and CEO of OCESA. “The arrival of the NASCAR Cup Series to our country reflects the significant growth that motorsports has experienced in Mexico, an achievement in which Escudería Telmex has played a major role by promoting the NASCAR Mexico Series and supporting drivers like Daniel Suárez.”
Kennedy also confirmed that Richmond Raceway would drop from two annual NASCAR race weekends to a one-weekend date in 2025 to accommodate the Mexico City addition.
“We’re still committed to Richmond,” Kennedy said. “It’s an important track, an important market certainly, as we think about where our NASCAR fans are today. We’ve seen some exciting story lines certainly coming out of that track over the past few years and excited to continue to be there next year, put on a great event for our fans, and put a lot of that energy and resources into that event.”
As for the energy from Tuesday’s big reveal, Kennedy lauded the reception from the national media and dignitaries. The full list for the 2025 NASCAR calendar has only been partially announced, but the sport has added new venues to the schedule for five consecutive years.
Now, Kennedy says, the planning for logistics, transportation and set-up begins with on-the-ground support for an event that’s less than a year away.
“I’m certain that this is also just the start of it,” Kennedy said. “We have 10 months of planning ahead of us and a lot of other opportunities to have announcements leading into this event. So you know, excited to continue to drive that energy to June of next year.”
The shuffling of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs picture has reached its make-or-break point with this weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway. Last weekend’s frenzied showdown at Daytona International Speedway did little to calm the waters.
Three drivers on the right side of the postseason bubble will clinch the final available berths in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), where a Regular Season Champion will also be crowned. That same bubble will burst for those left outside the 16-driver playoff grid at a treacherous 1.366-mile track that’s been the site of plenty of heartbreak in its 74-year history.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs sit in the best spots among drivers provisionally in on the basis of points, with Truex up 58 points on the dividing line and Gibbs at plus-39. Right on the knife’s edge of elimination are Chris Buescher (plus-21) as the last driver currently in, and Bubba Wallace (minus-21) as the first driver out.
Harrison Burton’s surprise victory in the next-to-last regular-season race at Daytona sealed a playoff invite for a driver ranked 34th in the Cup Series standings, tightening the window for other postseason hopefuls. Buescher grabbed 10 stage points and finished 10th at Daytona, aiming to recharge before visiting the South Carolina track where his RFK Racing No. 17 Ford contended late in the circuit’s most recent stop there in May.
“We’ll take a couple days. We’ll take a breather,” Buescher told NBC Sports post-race. “We’ll get to Darlington, time to get down to business.”
Business has already picked up for Wallace in his bid for a second consecutive playoff berth. He has already matched his total of five top-five finishes and 10 top-10 results from the previous year, but the zero in the win column that he and Buescher have in common is a stinging point.
Wallace was critical of himself in post-race interviews at Daytona, noting the disparity between his results and 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick, the Cup Series standings leader.
“You got one car fighting for a regular-season championship, and another car right on the bubble. Unacceptable,” said Wallace, who finished seventh at Darlington in the spring. “I’ll take all that weight on my shoulders. Should have won multiple times this year and I haven’t. We don’t even deserve to be here and we are. Got to go win next week. That is it.”
Reddick has his own fight on his hands as he tried to retain his place atop the Cup Series points for the Regular Season Championship. That crown includes a bonus of 15 playoff points, a valuable asset that carries through the three rounds of eliminations that will determine the Championship 4 contenders.
His primary rivals for the title are a pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates in Kyle Larson (second place, 17 points back) and Chase Elliott (third place, minus-18). All three drivers were involved in crashes in Daytona’s 400-miler, but only Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet was running at the finish after a heavy lift by the team to repair its damage.
“I mean, our team does an amazing job to be resilient and to work through a lot of the things that we’ve encountered over the years and especially over the day,” No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels told NASCAR.com “A lot of other teams on pit road are very capable of that as well; they just had more damage than we had. So, thankful our damage wasn’t worse, and hats off to the guys for digging in the way that they always do. Showed a lot of heart, a lot of strength and yeah, we’ll go to Darlington.”
Larson’s group is actually in a better spot for the regular-season title in the Cup Series owners’ standings. Larson has competed in one fewer race than the rest of the field after missing the Coca-Cola 600 when his rain-altered Indianapolis 500 bid thwarted his travel plan, but Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier piloted the No. 5 Chevy to a 13th-place result in his absence in the Charlotte race.
That outcome has the Hendrick No. 5 team leading the owners’ standings, seven points ahead of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team that fields entries for Reddick. Larson is also the defending Southern 500 winner.
“We’ll move on from tonight quickly and get focused on Darlington, a track that we run really well at,” Larson told NASCAR.com after exiting the car at Daytona. “You know, the 45 also runs really well there also, so we’ll have to be on our A-game, but happy. I believe they said we have the owner point lead, and then I think in the drivers’ we’re still a ways out of it. But yeah, we’ll just try to execute like we have there and run up front of the stages and hopefully we’ll be in contention to win the race and see what happens.”
Final Appeals Officer Bill Mullis upheld the penalty levied on the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet following a last-lap incident on Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway.
In reaching the above decision, the Final Appeals Officer provided the following explanation: “The data presented today from SMT and IDAS systems indicate that more likely than not a rule violation did occur at Richmond Raceway on 8-11-24 by the No. 3 RCR car on the last lap of the race. (Rule 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility, race finishes must be unencumbered by violations of the NASCAR rules or other actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.)”
Austin Dillon made contact with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final turns en route to his win at the Virginia short track. Dillon and the No. 3 team were subsequently dropped by NASCAR officials from the Cup Series Playoffs, with the race win not counting toward postseason eligibility.
The team appealed the ruling, and while No. 3 team spotter Brandon Benesch saw his suspension reduced from three races to one, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the remainder of the infraction earlier this month. The panel agreed with NASCAR’s ruling that the totality of Dillon’s actions was significant enough to warrant penalties; the win remained, but Dillon’s Cup Series Playoffs berth was revoked.
The penalty violated Sections 4.4.B NASCAR Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines; 10.1. A General Procedure; 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility. Benesch was cited for violating 4.4.D and 10.1.A. Dillon and the No. 3 team were also docked 25 points in the drivers’ and owners’ standings in the penalty handed down Aug. 14.
Richard Childress Racing elected to appeal the decision to the Final Appeals Officer, who presided over deliberations and came to the decision to uphold the ruling.
Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet currently sits 29th in points and remains outside of the 16-driver Cup Series Playoffs field heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Thirty-four hours removed from his crowning achievement in racing, Harrison Burton was still soaking in the thrill of earning his first NASCAR Cup Series win after Saturday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway.
“I was running before last night on, like, two hours of sleep total between 48 hours and was starting to get pretty tired,” Burton told NASCAR.com Monday morning. “Really was a fun, fun time. Had a lot of friends reach out and come hang out and spend time with my sister and all kinds of people that weren’t able to be there, which was really cool and really, really fun to try and just enjoy the moment, right? You just never know when your next one will come.”
The struggles of Burton’s first two-and-two-thirds years at the Cup level underscore the gratitude and appreciation Burton has for his shining moment. What enhanced it was the presence of his dad, NASCAR Hall-of-Fame nominee Jeff Burton, who was there to enjoy the frills of the 23-year-old’s breakthrough victory. The elder Burton has seen the totality of Burton’s career — the thrilling highs working his way up the racing ladder to the Cup level in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford down to the lows that have persisted in his first 97 series starts. Those lows have resulted in the team’s decision to part ways with Burton at season’s end in favor of Josh Berry in 2025.
Saturday night, Jeff Burton relished every facet of the victory celebration with his son — first from the NBC Sports broadcast booth, then to the tri-oval grass all the way to Victory Lane and the media center two hours after the checkered flag.
“It was really special,” Harrison Burton said of sharing the moment with his father. “I mean, man, I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone with him this year, spent a lot of time in person with him this year just trying to move forward in my career. And he was always trying to instill in me to never quit, and that was kind of the mantra for our entire team.
“Like I said in the media center, we won this race in the most Wood Brothers way ever, right? In a way that is hard-nosed, never quit, been down in the dumps and then find a way to win. That’s what the Wood Brothers do. So he seemed to be really proud of that. And I think, obviously, this year, he spent a lot of time telling me that he’s been proud of the way I’ve handled this situation as far as losing that ride and then not quitting and just making the most out of the opportunity we have. I think he was just excited that all those things that he tried to instill in me, I think, shined through in that moment.”
NBC Sports
As a father, Jeff Burton “has always called himself a hard-ass,” the 23-year-old said, a sentiment which still stands even as the younger Burton navigates life in the Cup Series. In fact, Jeff Burton told NASCAR.com Saturday night of a conversation the two had in recent weeks, telling his son: “Harrison, you’re a better race-car driver than you’re allowing yourself to be at the moment.”
“That kind of hit home, right?” Harrison Burton said. “It’s like, man, I think he’s right. Like, what’s going on here? There’s definitely some mental aspects to this game. I think it’s mostly mental. And when you get beat up in your rookie year, and your second year, it’s just hard sometimes to go to the race track with the right mentality. It’s hard to go to the race track with the confidence you need to perform at this level, right? Like, I feel like I could jump in a race car and go fast; it’s just having the confidence to do that is hard.
“If you’re a percentage off, it’s a big deal in this sport, especially at the Cup level. I’ve shown that I have the ability to win races. I’ve shown that I’ve won Xfinity races and I can drive cars fast and I can do the right things. It’s just I didn’t do it consistently enough. And when you have flashes that show you can do it, you better dang find out how to do it all the time.”
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
The blunt nature of Jeff Burton’s critiques have never dissuaded Harrison’s efforts because both knew the advice and observations were meant to help drive him forward.
“My whole childhood was that way,” Harrison Burton said. “He was a loving dad — I’m not telling you he was a mean person — but he just told you how it was and was very realistic about situations, and he continues to be that way. And for me, I think that means a lot because you just know when he does tell you something that he means it. …
“I would win races and he’d tell me I needed to do something better, and I missed this opportunity and did this wrong. I’m like, ‘Oh, all right, I thought I won, but OK.’ And you know, He’s just always realistic with you. So when he does say good job, he means you did a good job. And when he does say you need to work on something, you know you need to work on it. So that’s helped me a lot as a man growing up in that scenario where I feel like I can take criticism well. I feel like I can learn from it. I don’t shut down from it.
“It’s helped me keep going in my Cup career when times were not the easiest. When times were hard, it was much easier to understand why and understand what’s going on and understand how to get better from it because I grew up the way I did.”
Burton can now look forward to his first appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, attempting to guide the legendary Wood Brothers team from 34th in points to its first Cup Series Championship. It seems only fitting that a family-owned organization won its 100th Cup race with a driver who comes from a racing family of his own.
“Even through the hard times that we’ve had, they still treat me with a lot of respect,” Burton said of the Woods. “They still believe in me. They still wanted me to succeed. They still root for me, and they’ve been really good to me and my family. I mean, they’ve just opened a lot of doors up and let me be my own person, and they have faith in me, and all those things kind of came together, right?
“We had Bailey Wood there, who’s one of the younger members of the (family) up on (the stage). We had Jon, we had Eddie and Len up there. Leonard was at home. He texted me. And by the way, Leonard’s very hip — he uses emojis and stuff for being 89 years old. I think that was pretty awesome. Just stuff like that, man. It just feels like you’re a part of their family when you’re driving for them.”
Eddie Wood, son of NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Glen Wood, now serves as both team co-owner and CEO alongside brother and chief operations officer Len. Eddie’s son Jon Wood, took over as team president in April and has driven in the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series. And to bring Saturday’s triumph with Burton full circle, Jon Wood made his Xfinity Series debut in 2002 in the No. 9 Roush Racing Ford — substituting for none other than Jeff Burton.
In a Monday teleconference, Eddie Wood said he believes those family ties have served both Burton and the team well, which common bonds informing day-to-day conversations.
“You grow up in a racing family, it’s easier to just do things because you know they understand,” Wood said. “Like, if Len or I or Jon or somebody’s talking to Harrison about something, it’s like, you know what I mean? Your family’s the same as ours. You grew up with racing being the only topic that was ever talked about at lunch or dinner or in the car, wherever you were. It was about racing. And that’s, I’m sure, that’s the way he grew up.”
As a son, brother, father and cousin of racers himself, Wood understands the role Jeff Burton plays for Harrison better than most. Even though the elder Burton is always at the track — either to support his son or for work as an NBC Sports analyst — he allows his son to be his own man, Wood said.
“I think he gives Harrison enough room as a dad,” he said. “I mean, my son raced too. You can’t get in too deep with it. You’ve just got to be there when they want something. Or if you see something that is good or bad or you need to talk about it, usually, save that for later. But Jeff, as well as Kim (Jeff’s wife and Harrison’s mom), they’ve been big influences on his life because he’s probably the most polite young man I’ve ever been around in my life.”
With just six races left in the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, the series travels to historic Oswego Speedway this Saturday for the running of the Toyota Mod Classic 150 (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
Oswego Speedway, located in Oswego, New York, first welcomed the Modified Tour during the 1988 season. That year, Brian Ross won not once, but twice at the legendary Steel Palace. Additional visits to the track that season were won by Mike McLaughlin and George Kent Jr.
A number of familiar faces have since won at the track, with Tony Hirschman leading all drivers with three Modified Tour victories at the 0.625-mile oval. Other notable winners at the historic track include Ron Silk, Justin Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman, Ryan Preece, Doug Coby and Mike Stefanik.
Tickets for Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the 11th race of the 2024 Whelen Modified Tour season.
A rainbow forms over Turns 3-4 prior to the start of the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego Speedway on Sept. 3, 2023. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)
Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway
For the first time in 2024, someone not named Ron Silk leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings.
It just so happens to be Justin Bonsignore, who utilized a runner-up finish in the most recent event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park to move to the top of the leaderboard by four points with five races left this season.
That gives Bonsignore all the momentum heading into Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway, a track where Bonsignore has twice visited Victory Lane. However, one season ago, things didn’t go as planned for Bonsignore when he crashed out of the event while racing in the top five.
That race was won by Silk, who used the victory to help catapult himself to his second Modified Tour championship and first since 2011. Silk, who has struggled to regain his early season form, will look for a return trip to Oswego Speedway’s Victory Lane this Saturday night.
Another likely contender should be Patrick Emerling, who enters the Toyota Mod Classic 150 with plenty of momentum after a dominant win at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park a few weeks ago. The win catapulted him to third in the series standings, 31 points behind Bonsignore.
Austin Beers, also a winner this year at Lancaster Motorplex, should also be considered a contender at Oswego.
Other notable entrants include Matt Hirschman, Craig Lutz, Woody Pitkat and Tommy, Trevor and Tyler Catalano, among others.
The full entry list for Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 is available here.
Gary McDonald (No. 26), Austin Beers (No. 64) and Ron Silk (No. 16) in action during the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego Speedway on Sept. 3, 2023. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)
Schedule: Saturday, August 31 … Final practice from 3:15 to 4 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5:15 p.m. ET … Toyota Mod Classic 150 at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing).
Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. (EIRI) Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Toyota Mod Classic 150 is limited to 24 starters including Provisional Positions.
Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is two (2) tires, per caution period.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Long waits, low points and mighty struggles finally paid enormous dividends Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Elation overwhelmed both the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team and its young driver Harrison Burton as the 23-year-old claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, notching the organization’s 100th Cup Series win in the process.
NASCAR Hall of Famers Leonard Wood and the late Glen Wood were the patriarchs of a stock-car racing team that has gone on to become the family’s legacy and business, a group of tight-knit Virginians who simply love racing, kinship and winning. That combination and lineage, along with Burton’s last-lap dash past Kyle Busch to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and surge the No. 21 Ford into the Cup Series Playoffs, have now produced victories in seven consecutive decades of NASCAR racing.
“I think that’s what I’m most proud of,” said Len Wood, son of Glen and the team’s current chief operations officer.
For as storied as the team is and as triumphant it was through the sport’s early decades, their struggles through the new millennium increased. Burton’s victory marks the program’s fourth win since 2000, following the footsteps of Elliott Sadler (Bristol, 2001), Trevor Bayne (Daytona 500, 2011) and Ryan Blaney (Pocono, 2017).
Jon Wood, a former driver across the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series, now serves as the team president and co-owner. And as he sat in the media center into the wee hours of Sunday morning, he couldn’t reflect on the path that led to Saturday night’s highs.
“We sat in these seats, I don’t remember, maybe 2016 when we didn’t get a charter,” Jon Wood said. “And we were talking about it, and it was the lowest point of lows. And we had to do it. We had to come here, face the music, and say, ‘I think we’ll be OK.’ And we are. You’re gonna make me cry, and I don’t cry. You know, that’s the part that’s just so surreal in this is sitting in the same seat and thinking of where we were and where we are now. You go from the lowest of lowest to just on top of it, and I don’t know what else to say.”
Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR.com
For the past three seasons, Burton has experienced his woes of his own. The son of NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee and current NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton, Harrison scored an impressive four NASCAR Xfinity Series wins driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020 before moving up to Cup with the Wood Brothers for his rookie campaign in 2022. His tenure at the sport’s top level has not reflected that same success, with just one top five and five top-10 finishes in his prior 96 starts in the No. 21 Ford. In July, Wood Brothers Racing announced Josh Berry will drive the No. 21 Ford in 2025 as the team parts ways with Burton at year’s end.
Saturday night, Burton pushed all that aside to beat Busch, an all-time great, head-to-head in overtime for his first win and inaugural appearance in the postseason, now one of just 13 drivers locked into the playoff grid entering the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway on Sunday (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
“I struggle to put it into words for me, just the circumstances,” Burton said. “Obviously, the way the last three years have gone has not been the way I wanted to represent myself, the way I wanted to represent this team. And then to have the walls closing in on, you know, there’s a definite end to my time to get to drive this historic car, and then to find a way to win while those walls are closing in, to me, is really, really special. It almost makes the last three years worth it, but I would’ve much rather won before now.
“It’s just been so hard, and that’s the way it should be. The Cup Series is really, really hard. But to get the Wood Brothers’ 100th win, get my very first Cup win, it’s just really, really hard to put in words.”
What spoke volumes was the vast number of competitors who visited victory circle to congratulate Burton and the No. 21 team for their win. Crashed just laps before Burton claimed the checkered flag, Team Penske teammates Blaney and Joey Logano were some of the first on the scene to soak in Burton’s moment, standing aside while Burton doused his team in Coca-Cola and Busch Light while atop the driver’s door. The Wood Brothers team has been an affiliate of Penske’s for a number of years, ingraining Burton with the pair of Cup champions as well as friend and 2022 Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric.
Logano looked on as Jeff Burton soaked in the celebration with his son, striking a chord with the two-time Cup champ as Logano’s hands draped over the shoulders of his 6-year-old son Hudson.
“His (Harrison’s) attitude is better than anyone I’ve ever met,” Logano told NASCAR.com. “People think I smile a lot. No one is happier than Harrison. I’m pretty proud of him right now. It’s cool to see his dad here. This is really cool. It almost brings tears to your eyes to see it.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Blaney’s first career win in 2017 at Pocono Raceway marked win No. 99 for the Wood Brothers. The time spent with the organization and crew chief Jeremy Bullins — who led Burton’s team back to the promised land Saturday at Daytona — has tied Blaney to the family for life.
“This team was my family for three years,” Blaney told NASCAR.com. “I got my first win. A lot of guys on this team were on my team when I won at Pocono — Bullins, the crew chief; Grant (Hutchins), the engineer; Kirk (Almquist), the car chief, and many more. So it’s just neat to be able to come back, share it with them. A lot of these guys were part of 99 and 100. We’ve been waiting for the Wood Brothers to get 100 with Harrison since Pocono. So happy for Eddie (Wood, team CEO) and Len, Leonard. I know Glen would be incredibly proud. It’s a shame he can’t see it.
“But it’s just a cool moment to come and just hang out. I’ve been waiting so long. This is history and I couldn’t think of a better group. They really deserve it and Harrison deserves it.”
It wasn’t just Burton’s Penske friends who believed that. Among others, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain — both pinned just beneath the provisional playoff elimination line thanks in large part due to Burton’s win — came to offer sincere moments of congratulations, understanding the magnitude of the moment for a driver who’s struggled so mightily — and underscoring who Burton is as a person as so many competitors opted to cheer for his success rather than rooting against it.
“I mean, you can’t help but pull for him,” Jon Wood said. “Like, that’s the thing about Harrison that I think a lot of our fan base just doesn’t see when you’re running bad. You don’t get a lot of coverage, you don’t get the chance to have that exposure and opportunity to show people who you are, and this is a great time to do that. And you see the real Harrison sitting here, and we’re so stoked to be with him. Again, you just can’t help but want the best for him. It’s just, he’s not like most of them.”
Alongside Burton through all his trials, tribulations and jubilations has been fiancée Jenna Petty, who rushed through the infield grass of the speedway with the No. 21 cohort to greet her future husband under the bright lights of NASCAR’s biggest stage. Burton lifted her into the air in elation in Daytona’s tri-oval, an exclamation point on the journey they’ve trudged through together.
“Just so surreal. I mean, that’s a moment that you dream about,” Petty told NASCAR.com. “You watch people do it week in and week out, and you want it so bad. You want it so bad for him, for your family and for everybody else, just to see that and see how much we still want it, and how much that he’s still working so hard for it. We are hard workers at heart, and we have always celebrated each other’s successes and been there for each other’s hardest times, and so that’s just such a huge moment for us over these years to get to celebrate this monumental win together.”
That support has, of course, been mutual in their eight years together. But the emotion with which Burton spoke when reflecting upon their relationship was tangible Saturday night.
“I look back on the things that I have screwed up at or the things I haven’t done right,” Burton said. “I always try to do right, I always try to do the right thing. Just even the way my Cup career has gone. I’ve never had someone that’s been committed to me the way that she’s been since we were 15 years old. We’ve been together from really forever for me — my entire high school, her entire college — I didn’t go to college, but her entire college. Just been through the failures, through the successes together. She never has changed the way she looks at me because of my finishing position, good or bad.
“First off, when we first started dating, she didn’t care. Now that we’re engaged, she’s invested in me and she helps me, motivates me to do the right thing. To share that moment with her is just amazing.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
In the end, it all circles back to family with this family-owned team. On television, Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett are teammates as analysts for NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage. On the track, their sons are the teammates now: Harrison Burton uses the help of spotter Jason Jarrett to navigate each race. And to emphasize the full-circle aura, Dale Jarrett’s first career win came with the Wood Brothers back in 1991, while Jeff Burton scored the victory in the 2000 summer race at Daytona. In Victory Lane to congratulate his friend, Dale Jarrett told NASCAR.com this moment was “as special as anything I can remember in a long, long time.
“I mean to understand and know the Burton family and how much they put their heart and soul into this sport. I know how hard Harrison has worked to get to this. He’s an incredible young man, an incredible driver. And then of course the Wood Brothers, helping me get my first win and driving for them back in ’91, it’s just incredible to know that Harrison did this. And then my son Jason is the spotter for Harrison. We all have a stake in this in a little bit of a way, and it’s just so cool to see.”
From playing the role of neutral bystander in the TV booth to proud father, the smile couldn’t be wiped off Jeff Burton’s face from the time Harrison took to the checkered flag until the post-race press conference wrapped just after 1 a.m. ET on Sunday. In his 20-year career at the top level, “The Mayor” won 21 Cup races in his career, his last at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2008 when Harrison was 8 years old.
“It’s damn hard to get here,” Jeff Burton told NASCAR.com in Victory Lane. “And the last race I won was, hell, I don’t even remember how long ago it was. And to see what he’s gone through and how he’s conducted himself in what he’s been through is (what) I’m most proud of because you’ve never heard him once say a bad word about this team, about this group. Never once. Because that’s not who he is. He takes ownership.
“But he hasn’t quit fighting. And by the way, this team hasn’t quit fighting either. And it would be really easy to lay down and everybody quit on each other. Nobody’s done that. Here we are, and I’m so happy for him. It’s just a huge, huge night.”
The difficulty of accomplishing a single night of triumph in NASCAR is astonishing, evidenced by the loads of seemingly capable drivers who were never able to achieve that glory. The road to Harrison Burton’s first was grueling, but it was not without its lessons.
“This is shark-infested waters over here. He’s 23 years old,” Jeff Burton said. “This adversity will make him better. It’ll make him stronger. But sometimes, you’ve just got to go through it. And I told him this a few weeks ago — I said, ‘Harrison, you’re a better race-car driver than you’re allowing yourself to be at the moment.’ Nights like tonight are confidence-building and can change the game.”
For the second straight day, a second-generation rising NASCAR star earned his first-career win. This time, it was 22-year-old Layne Riggs claiming the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in Sunday’s playoff-opening LiUNAI 175! at the historic Milwaukee Mile.
Riggs, son of former NASCAR competitor Scott Riggs, took the lead from Ty Majeski with 53 laps remaining and pulled away to a solid 1.547-second victory over the Wisconsin native and a super motivated group of playoff drivers, making the rookie driver’s effort all the more impressive.
Riggs’ victory in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford comes a day after 23-year-old Harrison Burton — son of former NASCAR star Jeff Burton — earned his first career win in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” said an emotional Riggs, making only his 23rd start in the series, saying he knew in practice his truck was going to be in contention. “It’s awesome.
“We’ve had a terrible year. It’s been an awful year, but I’ve learned so much though in my rookie season. After the start, I thought there’s no way we’re going to get a win, we’ll do the best we can and just learn for next year. But I knew in practice this thing [today] was awesome.”
Riggs was so happy and demonstrative that he dislocated his shoulder pumping his arms high in celebration. His team rushed over to help, and it certainly appeared Riggs was OK by the time he hugged his father trackside.
“Dislocated my shoulder I was celebrating so hard, but it was worth it,” Riggs said smiling.
Eight of the 10 playoff drivers finished directly behind Riggs, including Majeski, the defending race winner and polesitter who led 45 of the 175 laps in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford. McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes was third, leading a race-high 71 laps in his No. 19 Chevrolet. Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez and Tricon Garage’s Taylor Gray rounded out the top five.
McAnally-Hilgemann’s Tyler Ankrum, Tricon Garage’s Corey Heim, McAnally-Hilgemann’s Daniel Dye and ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes, the reigning series champion, rounded out the top nine finishers – all playoff drivers. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton was 10th.
“I was leading on the bottom and it shot up the race track and just couldn’t recover, I was way too tight,” said Eckes, who paced the field for much of the afternoon and collected a series-best ninth stage win.
He now holds a 16-point advantage over Majeski atop the playoff standings. Heim is third, only 19 points back.
“Proud of everybody but a pretty big missed opportunity,” Eckes said.
The other two playoff drivers, Grant Enfinger, driver of the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevy, finished 13th and Rajah Caruth, driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevy, rallied to an 18th-place finish after starting from the rear of the grid.
With two more races remaining in this opening round and eight of the 10 drivers advancing, Rhodes is two points behind Enfinger for that all-important eighth playoff position and Caruth is only four points back.
The second race of the Round of 10 of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs takes place Sept. 19 in a special Thursday night edition (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from Bristol Motor Speedway, where Heim is the defending race winner.
NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Truck Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Layne Riggs as the winner.
Another topsy-turvy Saturday night showdown at Daytona International Speedway left some drivers joyous and others with sinking fortunes as the NASCAR Cup Series regular season winds down.
The fallout from Daytona’s summertime stunner tees up a tantalizing regular-season finale in next Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) at Darlington Raceway, where the 16-driver postseason field will be set. See who’s trending upward and who is going the wrong way after Daytona.
THREE UP ⬆️
1. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Started: 20th
Finished: 1st
What happened: The 23-year-old driver’s final-lap momentum in overtime pushed Burton to his first Cup Series win and the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team to its landmark 100th victory. The triumph in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 sparked a touching family celebration, all while reversing the fortunes of a team that sits 34th in the Cup Series standings.
What’s next: Josh Berry is still slated to take over the No. 21 Ford next season, but Burton will close out his three-year Wood Brothers tenure as a playoff driver as he auditions for a 2025 ride. For the Wood Brothers, it means an end to their seven-year stretch of sitting on win No. 99, and as Len Wood pointed out post-race, it’s an eighth decade of winning NASCAR races for the family business.
Logan Riely | Getty Images
2. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
Started: 13th
Finished: 10th
What happened: Buescher — who entered Saturday’s 400-miler as the defending race winner — led twice for 10 laps, mustering his second consecutive top-10 finish. Much has been made about the RFK Racing driver’s focus on wins over points, but finishes of third and ninth at the stage breaks helped him pocket 10 extra points — a buffer that offset some of the playoff-picture shake-up from Burton’s upset victory.
What’s next: Buescher enters the Darlington regular-season finale with a 21-point edge over Bubba Wallace as the last driver provisionally in the playoff field. It’s also a favorable track for the 31-year-old driver, who led 21 laps his last time there before a late-race collision with Tyler Reddick knocked him out of contention.
James Gilbert | Getty Images
3. Parker Retzlaff, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 29th
Finished: 7th
What happened: The 21-year-old driver gave the winning aerodynamic push to Burton down the backstretch on the white-flag lap, and he ran as high as second through the final set of corners. Retzlaff slipped back to a top-10 result in the last scramble to the finish, but the outcome still marked an impressive career-best in just his second Cup Series start.
What’s next: Retzlaff returns to his full-time role in the Xfinity Series, where he ranks 18th in the standings in his second year with Jordan Anderson Racing. Just four races remain before that circuit’s 12-driver postseason field is determined. For the plucky, part-time Beard Motorsports organization, its focus on the Cup Series’ superspeedway races netted its second straight top-10 result. The No. 62 team also ran sixth at Talladega in April with Anthony Alfredo behind the wheel.
Logan Riely | Getty Images
THREE DOWN ⬇️
1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Started: 25th
Finished: 28th
What happened: Reddick left Daytona with his lead atop the Cup Series standings intact, but his charmed run of seven straight finishes in the top six ended in a Lap 153 crash. The No. 45 Toyota driver has just two DNFs this season — both because of wrecks and both at Daytona.
What’s next: Reddick still has the Regular Season Championship — and its bounty of 15 playoff points — within reach, leading Kyle Larson by 17 points in the standings. He’ll head to Darlington with the aim of replicating his springtime performance there — pole position, 174 laps led — if not the ultimate result — 32nd place after a run-in with Chris Buescher.
James Gilbert | Getty Images
2. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 10th
Finished: 36th
What happened: Elliott’s otherwise spotless streak ended with his first DNF of the season Saturday night, when he was snagged in a multicar tangle in Stage 2. Dating back to last season, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver was running at the finish in 37 consecutive races until this weekend’s mishap.
What’s next: Elliott’s postseason spot has been in hand since his win back in April at Texas Motor Speedway, but he has extra incentive at Darlington with a chance at the Regular Season Championship. He’s third in the standings, 18 points behind leader Tyler Reddick, and his last three Darlington finishes have been solid runs of 12th, eighth and third.
James Gilbert | Getty Images
3. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Started: 1st
Finished: 30th
What happened: McDowell’s fourth pole position of the season held promise in a race that he and his Ford mates mostly controlled. McDowell led 26 laps — second only to the race-high 34 laps led by fellow Ford pilot Joey Logano — but his No. 34 Mustang spun from the top spot after a bump gone wrong with nine laps to go in regulation.
What’s next: McDowell will need some Darlington mojo to make the Cup Series Playoffs for the third time in four years. The veteran’s only avenue to reach the postseason is a clinching victory, and he was 10th at the 1.366-mile South Carolina track in the spring.
