Harrison Burton shares emotions of first Cup Series win
After crossing the start/finish line first in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Saturday night, Harrison Burton couldn’t contain his emotions.
For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Burton won a race in NASCAR’s top series, holding off last lap charges from Kyle Busch to win at Daytona International Speedway.
“I cried my whole cool-down lap,” Burton said. “I have never cried after a race win in my life. Never even thought about crying after a race win. This one means a lot.”
In his third full-time season driving the historic No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing entry, Burton’s lame duck season was sparked with new life with his win.
Despite not returning to the No. 21 car in 2025, Burton is now a premier series winner and will be a part of the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The win was also the 100th victory for WBR and the team’s first since 2017.
When Burton circled back around to the frontstretch, he celebrated with his team and his family, including his father, 21-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Jeff Burton.
“He’s been there for me, he’s called me when I don’t want to answer his phone call after a bad race, talked me through what I need to do, how I need to handle things,” Burton said of his dad. “He obviously raised me, and my mom as well, both raised me to be the guy that I am today. I’m proud of that off the racetrack alone.
“Then to make the nights that my mom spent on the road quarter midget racing with me while my dad was Cup racing, to make the effort that my dad took away from his Cup racing opportunity to help me in quarter midgets and late model racing to make that worth it to win at the Cup level, I’ve been told by him that he’s not proud of me based off whether I win or lose, it’s how I handle myself and what I do.”
Additionally, Burton’s fiancée Jenna Petty celebrated with Burton and the team on the frontstretch.
Burton said Petty and him have been together since the two were 15 years old, and that no one has been committed to him like she has.
“We’ve been together from really forever for me, my entire high school, her entire college, I didn’t go to college, but her entire college, just been through the failures, through the successes together,” Burton said. “She never has changed the way she looks at me because of my finishing position, good or bad.
“First off, when we first started dating, she didn’t care. Now that we’re engaged, she’s invested in me and she helps me, motivates me to do the right thing. To share that moment with her is just amazing.”
Burton said he hopes he remembers a few things of the victory, including the feeling of winning.
“ I hope I remember not doing a burnout because Eddie last year told me if I win, doing a burnout, that’s not cool,” Burton said. “That was cool. My dad never did burnouts.”
“I kind of got to do the full picture there of the Alan Kulwicki kind of Polish Victory Lap there across the whole front stretch and just waving at what seemed like a million fans.”
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.