Florida’s Daytonia Beach — There are the feel-good, widely celebrated successes that bring a smile to everyone’s face. Subsequently, there exists an additional tier of popularity.
Every time Wood Brothers Racing wins a race, they break into this category. Particularly when that triumph is the 100th in the history of the organization and occurs at Daytona International Speedway, a venue inextricably associated to a team whose history in NASCAR extends back to the beginning of the sport.
“Winning here is bigger to me than winning somewhere else. It’s just special,” team CEO and co-owner Eddie Wood said. “Our dad raced on the beach, actually on the sand. God, that was almost 75 years ago. I think he ran the first race he ever run on the sand in 1953. That’s a long time ago.
“Winning Daytona is just really special for our family.”
The amount of love for the Wood Brothers was evident late Saturday night in Daytona’s victory lane as Harrison Burton celebrated an almost unbelievable victory that finally moved the team to triple digits in the win column. There were falling confetti, big hugs, wide smiles, tears of joy, and even long sips of Busch Light.“It’s just really, really special, really, really cool,” Burton said. “We won the 100th Wood Brothers win in the most Wood Brothers way possible. We’d been down and out and we came back swinging. We’re going to continue to do that until my time here is up.”
“It’s just really, really special, really, really cool,” Burton said. “We won the 100th Wood Brothers win in the most Wood Brothers way possible. We’d been down and out and we came back swinging. We’re going to continue to do that until my time here is up.”
Some historical facts from @HBurtonRacing’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory last night.
— NASCAR Classics (@NASCARClassics) August 25, 2024
• @woodbrothers21 won the summer race at @DAYTONA 50 years ago with David Pearson on a last-lap pass.
• @JeffBurton won the summer race at the track in 2000. pic.twitter.com/Z5opWX2n0c
The Wood Brothers are a NASCAR tradition, having participated in their first race as a team just one year after NASCAR approved its first race in 1949. Their roots can be traced back to the league’s inception.
Driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, one of NASCAR’s most recognizable vehicle numbers, earns you a place among the elite of the sport.
However, the team has found it difficult to reclaim the standard set by drivers such as A.J. Foyt, David Pearson, and Cale Yarborough while they were operating the renowned No. 21. It really does not happen very often anymore to win. The Wood Brothers had not won in almost seven years prior to Saturday night. And 2011 had passed before that. And 2001 was the year before that.
Futility breeds uncertainty. The Wood Brothers of today, entering their third generation as a family-owned team, are very different from the team of the past that ruled the sport in the 1960s and 1970s. There have been many highs and near misses since 2017, but there have also been many lows that have made it difficult to predict if the Wood Brothers will ever check the 100-win box.
“You just don’t know. These things are so hard to win,” Eddie Wood said. “We’ve been in position a couple of times since 2017, but it just didn’t happen. These are so hard to win.”
But in those instances when the Wood Brothers do have success, a flood of appreciation flows in from across the NASCAR industry. One visitor to victory lane on Saturday night waHowever, when the Wood Brothers do succeed, the NASCAR industry as a whole showers them with gratitude. On Saturday night, one visitor to victory lane embodied the unique occasion. Regardless of how his race turned out, the driver who had last brought the Wood Brothers victory was not going to miss the celebration.s emblematic of the special moment. It was the driver who had last delivered the Wood Brothers a win and wasn’t going to miss the celebration regardless of how his race ended.
Approximately concurrently with the race reaching the green flag for the ultimate restart, Ryan Blaney was traveling back to his RV on a golf cart following an accident that occurred late in the evening. He got off the cart to watch the finish on a television outside a random RV in the driver/owner lot since he knew he would not make it back in time to see it through.
“Winning (at Daytona) is bigger to me than winning somewhere else,” Wood Brothers co-owner Eddie Wood said of Harrison Burton’s feat. “It’s just special.” (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
Then when Burton took the checkered flag, Blaney made a beeline for victory lane.
“I was jumping up and down,” Blaney said. “I was hooting and hollering. … I was fanboying for Harrison and the Wood Brothers and that whole family.”
Blaney thanked everyone and took a seat near the stage on a nearby wall, drinking a beer. This was going to be fun for him. The reigning Cup champion had taken to heart the words from the Wood Brothers, who had always assured him that he would always be a member of their family.
“You just got to be here to see it,” Blaney said. “I mean, I’m just so excited.
“I just wanted to witness it because I know I had a really tiny piece in this by winning once for them, but you can’t miss a 100. That’s a historic deal.”
Blaney was not in a hurry to get away. Burton stuck behind even after the most of the crew had left and his car had been set aside for examination. He was chatting on the corner of the platform with Blaney’s previous crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, and Burton’s current crew chief, laughing and smiling and exchanging anecdotes.
There was a whole lot to rehash.
The possibility of Burton winning was not widely believed. The 23-year-old was last among full-time drivers going into the weekend, with 34th-most points. Burton had been told he would not be joining the team for a fourth season because his season had been so disappointing up until Daytona.
However, Burton emerged as a 70-1 underdog and triumphed over two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in overtime, securing his maiden career win on a track that had yielded numerous successes for the Wood Brothers. That final lap was the only one he led all night.
HARRISON BURTON IS A NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNER!!! pic.twitter.com/6nxp8b8rBf
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 25, 2024
“To have my name above the door of the 21 crossing the line at Daytona, I mean, that’s pretty awesome,” Burton said. “That’s just stuff when you’re racing quarter midgets and late models growing up, that’s what you dream of, is a situation like this.”
Currently, only the Wood Brothers—along with current super teams Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Team Penske—have won a race in eight consecutive decades.
“I think that’s what I’m most proud of,” COO and co-owner Len Wood said.
Said Eddie Wood: “It’s beyond words. I don’t really have the words.”
No longer do the Wood Brothers qualify as a super team. Not that it is significant. For a very long time, the Wood Brothers belonged to an exclusive class. They also added a new chapter to their lengthy history on Saturday night at Daytona when they joined the Century Club, which they were not sure they would ever be able to join.
(Top photo of Harrison Burton and his team celebrating Saturday’s win: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
