Before the penultimate regular-season race at Daytona International Speedway, Harrison Burton’s prospects were understandably bleak.
The driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford hadn’t cracked the top 30 in the NASCAR Cup Series standings since the fourth race of the season at Phoenix. And by the time the
series headed for Daytona for the second time this season, Burton already had learned that he would be out of his ride at the end of the year.
That was before Burton stormed into the Playoffs with a dramatic win at the World Center of Racing, holding off Kyle Busch by a car-length in a two-lap overtime shootout. Even
though his victory was a bolt of lightning from the blue, Burton hesitates to call himself an underdog.
“If I was not a part of this team, I would say the same thing,” Burton said. “You can’t help but look at where we were in points, look at how our season had gone, look at the
fact that I was on my way out of my job. They were making changes because the performance wasn’t there. I love them and they love me as a person, but we didn’t perform the way
we needed to, but now we have this great opportunity to reset all of that.
“We have a great opportunity to kind of be born again. It’s like, ‘OK, a whole new season right here. Let’s go.’ That’s a rare opportunity in sports and a rare opportunity in
life to get to do that, so I’m going to make the most of that.
“I know my race team is making the most of it. I got to go there a little bit, and those guys are fired up. That’s so fun. It’s so fun to be a part of a team that’s fighting
for something like we are, and we’re going to use that energy in a positive way.”
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