This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Harrison Burton avoided the pitfalls Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway to score his first series victory and 100th win for his Wood Brothers Racing team. The unexpected victory comes with the added bonus of a playoff spot, too. It was just weeks ago that it was announced that Burton would not be back in the driver's seat of the No. 21 for the 2025 season, but his success Saturday night will be one of the best endorsements he could hope for in his search for employment. The records will show that Burton started 20th and led just one lap, but the race victory will earn him a spot in the iconic history of NASCAR, Daytona, and Wood Brothers Racing. In all, it was a veteran performance through a treacherous 400 miles where Burton bested the competition to win.
Burton's victory comes at the expense of Bubba Wallace, though. Just one regular-season race remains, and Burton's trip to Victory Lane pushed Wallace one spot further down the playoff standings and out of the 16 playoff positions. A 21-point gap now stands between the 23XI Racing driver and a spot in the playoffs. Chris Buescher holds the advantage with team owner Brad Keselowski already in the playoff field by virtue of winning the last visit to Darlington Raceway. A tense and punishing 500-mile race this week will decide who claims the remaining playoff positions with surprises still possible at one of NASCAR's most historic and challenging circuits.
UPGRADE
Harrison Burton - Burton's good fortune began Saturday night when he threaded the needle of a multi-car accident in the second stage Saturday night at Daytona. With less than 20 laps remaining, he still wasn't even inside the top 20. However, the unpredictable final miles of a superspeedway race played heavily to his favor and being one of just six drivers to avoid crashes through the race put him in position to capitalize and score the first series victory of his career. He did just that, too. A push from Parker Retzlaff put the No. 21 into the lead on the final lap and Burton held off Kyle Busch in the final yards to the finish to claim his first series victory and earn a spot in the playoffs. Burton's best Darlington finish was a sixth-place result in the spring race last season. From five prior starts, his average finish at the track is 19.6.
Kyle Busch - While Busch wanted and needed a victory, he still put together one of the more impressive Daytona races of his career. Busch was one of just a handful of drivers to keep his nose clean throughout Saturday's somewhat chaotic race, putting himself among the leaders on the final restart. In fact, Busch was in the lead on the final lap. However, momentum was not on his side as Burton got the better push from behind. Busch held position and did everything in his power to recapture the lead short of crashing the No. 21. Busch now has just one more chance to force his way into the 2024 playoffs and points alone are not enough. Busch must win at Darlington to be one of the 16 championship contenders. He has one prior victory at the track from 2008 but needs his second this week more than he ever has before.
Ty Gibbs - It wasn't a victory, but Gibbs landed his seventh top-five finish of the season Saturday night at Daytona. It was a treacherous night that Gibbs successfully navigated, putting himself in position to fight for the win in the final laps. In the end, it wasn't enough, but the the finish ensured he didn't lose ground in the championship standings with just one race remaining before the playoffs commence. Gibbs now sits 15th in the playoff standings, 39 points behind Martin Truex Jr. and 21 points ahead of Chris Buescher in the 16th and final championship slot. From four series starts, Gibbs has a best Darlington finish of second. That impressive finish came earlier this season, too. A clean night this coming week will be enough to see the No. 54 safely through to the championship fight. Gibbs has control of his playoff destiny this week, he just needs to ensure he handles it carefully.
Joey Logano - Logano led the most laps Saturday night up to winning the second segment of the race on offer. His total of 34 laps led and the stage win didn't translate to a good race finish, though. While racing among the leaders in the final miles, he was caught in the second big crash of the night, and the damage was heavy enough to end his race with less than 10 laps to go. The accident was a product of pack racing and the No. 22 had no ability to avoid it, and the commendable race Logano was piecing together was laid to waste. He and the team now have just one race to pick themselves up and put the disappointment behind them before having to be at the best they've been all season. Logano has one Darlington victory to his credit, but only finished 21st at the track in the spring race. His average finish at the track from 21 career starts is 13.6 with an average starting spot of 9.8.
Josh Berry - Berry leveraged his Ford-powered machine to qualify and run inside the top five throughout the first stage Saturday night at Daytona, taking his first career stage victory after a strong push from Chris Buescher sent him to the lead on the final lap of the segment. He remained among the front runners and picked up stage points in the second segment, too. However, his good fortune wasn't enough to carry him through to the finish. The No. 4 was one of the many cars collected in the third big crash of the night, leaving him upside down and out of the race, finishing his evening six laps behind the eventual winner. Despite the bad luck, Berry could be a strong fantasy option to consider this coming week at Darlington, though. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has two prior series starts at the track and picked up a third-place finish in last year's Southern 500.
DOWNGRADE
Denny Hamlin - The past week was a terrible one for Hamlin. NASCAR levied a hefty penalty on him and the team after it was revealed that Toyota mistakenly rebuilt an engine earlier in the season before NASCAR had the chance to inspect it, violating the sealed-engine regulations. He and the team were docked points and fined for the mistake that Toyota claimed responsibility for. Hamlin's week only got worse when he was caught up in a big wreck in the second stage, which knocked him completely out of the race and earning a 38th-place finish. After a string of impressive results, Hamlin now has one week to regain his form to make a long run at earning the series title. Hamlin has been one of the best this season, but this is also the darkest period he has had to overcome yet this season. He is a four-time Darlington winner who finished fourth last year, though.
Daniel Suarez - An unfortunate confluence of events knocked Suarez out of Saturday night's race early when fuel ignited the rear of his car. When stopping between stages, Suarez and Denny Hamlin were blocked from quick exits from their boxes. As Hamlin's car ejected flames from the exhaust, spilled fuel from Suarez's stop ignited and spread to the rear of the No. 99 machine. By the time Suarez got back to his pit box to extinguish the flames the rear of the car was heavily melted and damaged. With a win under his belt, the team opted not to attempt the significant repairs it would have taken to put Suarez back on track and he was classified as the first car out of Saturday's race. The early exit was a dent in the build up to a playoff attempt as Suarez and the team attempt to build momentum and confidence for the elimination races just two weeks away.
Martin Truex Jr. - Good fortune is something that has eluded Truex much of this season and it was more of the same Saturday night at Daytona. The former series champion, in his last full-time season in competition, suffered multiple problems Saturday night that kept him out of contention. Involvement in a wreck and two flat tires laid waste to his chances of winning. While his points total is enough to see him into the playoffs, he and the team are lacking some serious confidence. His 24th-place finish Saturday night was the fourth in a row as the playoff races approach. Truex has just one more regular-season week to find paydirt and reverse his fortunes before he attempts to slide his way through the first round of championship eliminations. At Darlington, Truex has won twice, but he also hasn't finished better than 18th at the track in his last five tries.
Bubba Wallace - Despite the confidence and past success Wallace brough into Saturday's race at Daytona, the result didn't help him. The No. 23 only picked up one stage point in the second segment and fell out of the playoff positions with Burton's unexpected victory. Wallace now has just one race to salvage his shot at the championship. He will need to overcome a 21-point gap to Chris Buescher in order to force his way in, too. Making the playoffs will take Wallace being at his best this week. From 12 prior Darlington starts, Wallace scored four top-10 finishes. His best result at the track was fifth in last season's spring race. He was seventh there earlier this season, which was his fourth consecutive top-10 there. However, he is likely to need even better than that to defy the odds and make this season's playoff field.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Brad Keselowski - Despite positioning himself toward the front of the race throughout Saturday's race, Keselowski was given a penalty on a restart with less than 20 laps remaining. Despite the infraction, the No. 6 was still able to take advantage of the closing miles to work his way back into the top 10 to score an eighth-place finish. On the final overtime restart, Keselowski was back inside the top 10 and he raced his way to to an eighth-place finish at the line. Keselowski's strength was so impressive that it left everyone wondering what may have been possible had he not suffered that drive-through penalty. Keselowski has two Darlington victories from his 21 career starts, including the win that secured his playoff spot for this year's title fight back in May.
