Going into NASCAR’s second-to-last race of the common season at Daytona, Harrison Burton sat at thirty fourth within the factors amongst his full-time Cup opponents — useless final. A strong battle between he and seasoned Cup veteran Kyle Busch, discovered Burton simply forward as they crossed the road with the checkered flag waving, etching his identify within the historical past books. It is a win that additionally landed Burton a everlasting, assured spot within the 2024 NASCAR Cup playoffs, and has fully modified the combat to clinch the final of the assured spots on the common season finale at Darlington come Sunday.
Not too way back, it would not have been potential as NASCAR had a top-30 rule in place till after the 2022 season. No driver under thirtieth in factors couldn’t win their approach into the playoffs, so Burton’s victory wouldn’t have counted. Nonetheless, occasions have modified.
Harrison Burton, Wooden Brothers Racing, DEX Imaging Ford Mustang
Picture by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Pictures
13 spots are actually spoken for whereas Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs maintain considerably comfy factors margins. Chris Buescher sits within the sixteenth and closing spot, however with a 21-point buffer over Bubba Wallace, he wants to easily have an okay day at Darlington and he ought to be secure — so long as there isn’t any new winner.
Burton’s victory primarily blew open the factors battle round that bubble. Had a driver corresponding to Christopher Bell managed to tug off the win at Daytona, the factors battle can be far tighter proper now. Wallace can be the driving force in sixteenth, holding a six-point benefit over Ross Chastain. As an alternative, each drivers are going through a state of affairs the place they may probably should win the Southern 500. These are two drivers who made the playoffs final yr, and the final time Chastain wasn’t part of the postseason battle was 2021.
Bubba Wallace calls playoff predicament “unacceptable”
“You bought one automotive combating for a regular-season championship, and one other automotive proper on the bubble. Unacceptable,” stated Wallace after the Daytona race, referring to teammate Tyler Reddick, who presently leads the factors standings.
The 23XI Racing driver was clearly upset. Burton is the fourth driver under him in factors to win their approach into the playoffs. It could have been 5 if Austin Dillon wasn’t stripped of his playoff eligibility. “I am going to take all that weight on my shoulders. Ought to have gained a number of occasions this yr and I have never. We do not even need to be right here and we’re. Received to go win subsequent week. That’s it.”
Chastain stands out as the almost certainly driver under the cut-line be in competition for a victory at Darlington. Though the No. 1 was solely common earlier this yr on the historic observe, he has been an actual menace within the years prior. He has two top-fives within the final three Southern 500s, and crashed whereas battling for the win within the 400-mile race there in early 2023.
This is an in depth have a look at how the bubble modified after Burton captured the checkered flag:
| Driver | Present factors margin | Factors with out new winner at Daytona |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 14th: +58 factors | thirteenth: LOCKED IN |
| Ty Gibbs | fifteenth: +39 factors | 14th: +45 factors |
| Chris Buescher | sixteenth: +21 factors | fifteenth: +27 factors |
| Bubba Wallace | seventeenth: -21 factors | sixteenth: +6 factors |
| Ross Chastain | 18th: -27 factors | seventeenth: -6 factors |
