0
0
By Ronald Young
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
After going winless for over two seasons in the Cup Series Harrison Burton was able to capture his first race and give the Wood Brothers Racing team their 100th win on Saturday night. Burton surged to the front on the final lap to take the win in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Ironically, Burton was informed in July that he would not return to the Wood Brothers team in 2025. At this time Burton does not have a ride announced for 2025 but that will likely change after his big win.
Burton’s win gave the iconic Wood Brothers a long-awaited milestone victory that has eluded them for a long time. The team had not won a race since 2017 at Pocono with Ryan Blaney and before that in 2011 at the Daytona 500 with Trevor Bayne.
The Wood Brothers have been a NASCAR mainstay since their founding in 1950. Several of the sport’s biggest names have driven the #21 Ford, including David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, A.J. Foyt, Neil Bonnett, Buddy Baker, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott. The team began with Glen and Leonard Wood, along with three other Wood Brothers, and continues today with the Wood Family still owning and operating the team.
The younger Burton drove his first Cup race in 2021 at Talladega, with his best race finish of 3rd in 2022 at Indianapolis. The Wood Brothers hired Harrison Burton to drive full-time in July 2021. He is part of the Burton racing family: father Jeff, Uncle Ward, and cousin Jeb have all competed in the NASCAR Cup Series.
NASCAR has long been a family oriented sport, with multiple generations becoming race winners. The list includes the 3-generation Petty Family (Lee, Richard, Kyle), Ned and son Dale Jarrett, Bobby, brother Donnie, and Bobby’s son Davey Allison, Dale and son Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Bill and son Chase Elliott, Buck and son Buddy Baker.
That exclusive club now includes Jeff and Harrison Burton.
In the NBC broadcast booth calling the race was Burton’s Dad, Jeff Burton, a 21-time Cup race winner and one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers. “These moments are hard to come by. …,” said Jeff Burton in victory lane. “I know how special it is and especially here with all the things that happen to make this sport.”
“This is beyond words,” remarked Eddie Wood, CEO and co-owner. “This has been such a long time coming, the hundredth win. We’ve been with Motorcraft Quick Lane and Ford Performance for over twenty years, and you just can’t put that into words. Edsel Ford, all his family, Jim Farley – there’s just so many people in our world to make this happen. It’s just unbelievable.”
Ever since Glen Wood made racing the family business, the family organization and Ford Motor Co. have been synonymous. For the last 74 years, the team has only competed with Ford products, winning 64 times with the Mercury brand and 36 with the Ford Blue Oval.
“Ford and Motorcraft Quick Lane have stuck behind us for over twenty years now,” said Len Wood, COO and co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing. “To get our 100th win is so special, and we couldn’t do it without those people. It’s great to get a win here at Daytona. This is the place you want to be, right here.”
The Wood Brothers delivered their first win on April 18, 1960, when Glen Wood won Grand National Race No. 13 at Winston-Salem’s (NC) Bowman Gray Stadium. That was the first of his four career victories and set the tone that has now seen the organization win at least one NASCAR Cup Series race in seven straight decades.
“The Wood Brothers are family to us at Ford and to see them get their 100th win means so much to all of us who have followed them through the years,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports. “When you think of Ford and its NASCAR program, you think of the Wood Brothers. Their loyalty to us for the last 74 years is unmatched and we couldn’t be prouder.”
It’s hard to quantify just how much the organization has achieved through the years but consider they have had 19 different drivers win a Cup Series points race, including 12 NASCAR Hall of Famers. David Pearson leads the way with 43 wins for the team while Cale Yarborough is next with 13.
In addition, they have served as a springboard to many drivers who won their first series race, a list that includes Tiny Lund, who won Ford’s first Daytona 500 with the team in 1963, and Ford champions Dale Jarrett (1999) and Ryan Blaney (2023).
Burton’s victory means the team has qualified for the playoffs, which get underway on September 8th at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Quite a feat for a team that started out in a small-town USA-Stuart, Virginia.
WOOD BROTHERS RACING FOREVER POWERED BY FORD THE OLDEST TEAM IN NASCAR BY THE SAME FAMILY AWESOME JOB BOYS👍🇺🇸🏁🏆