It’s day 4 of discussing Harrison Burton’s win at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and it’s still a hot topic. Yes, he already won and has a spot in the playoffs. His last maneuver at Daytona managed to put him in the playoff picture while taking out Bubba Wallace, who is just 21 points shy of the cut-off. Considering the fact that he jumped from P34 into the top 16, it’s fair to see why people might not be happy with this.

Overall, rules are rules, and that’s the format that NASCAR created. The playoffs were introduced to make the season more exciting, and, let’s be honest, who doesn’t like an underdog win? This victory does exactly what NASCAR wanted by shaking up the rankings of the season, and discussing this on his latest podcast, Dale Jr sides with the Daytona winner.

Dale Jr is happy for Harrison Burton

Let’s first look at a few facts from the last race. Kyle Busch was the frontrunner, and Harrison Burton managed to be the faster car around the last lap. Parker Retzlaff had a huge role in Burton’s victory, as he boosted the No. 21 Ford by pushing it from the rear. Another important thing to consider is that before winning the race at Daytona, Burton was let go by Wood Brothers Racing, and his future stays uncertain. But what does this have to do with anything?

Harrison Burton was under a lot of pressure as he is yet to find a team for next season. At least after this win, he can rest assured that there will be more prospective teams that will want him after a Cup Series win. Despite there being almost no place in the Cup Series, this is a huge achievement that Burton will be able to leverage in the future. The playoffs guarantee a Top 16 finish, and this is a feat that many Cup Series drivers have yet to achieve.

So when the topic of whether this is fair resurfaced on the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr.’s co-host explained the controversy, saying, “Like, listen, Harrison played his cards exactly right—all credit to them. But just all of a sudden, we’re calling a 34th-point car one of our best 16 of the year.” In response to this, Dale Jr explained that it was according to the playoffs. After discussing the integrity factor in this situation, the team spoke about how the format has affected NASCAR.

However, Burton’s actions have consequences, and winning a race fair and square mostly comes with positive ones. Dale Jr explained the biggest boon, saying, “Them going from 34th to the playoffs is millions of dollars in revenue for this team. I think I saw somewhere it’s two to three million dollars to go from, like 30th. They did a lot of boxes, major boxes, that might not have ever gotten checked for that team, got checked, and they’re going to benefit from that financial success.” 

Now, even though Burton has given the race, his everything to win, there are the naysayers. This was discussed further in the podcast, and here is what they had to say.

Why are people having a problem with Harrison Burton’s win?

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Although this is a great moment for Wood Brothers Racing as the Daytona win marks the 100th race win for the team, there are a few teams and critics who think this is not fair. There are comparisons of Harrison Burton winning the race to winning a lottery, as some believe that one race should not determine the top 16 despite having a less-than-average season all year long. Sure, there are millions of dollars at stake, but in the end, it’s a competition that Burton won according to the rules.

The whole debate here is that compared to other teams that are consistently finishing in the top 5s and top 10s, WBR and Burton only had to work hard for one race and they achieved the playoff spot. On the other hand, drivers like Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain, who are currently less than 30 points shy from the playoffs, are the ones to get eliminated. The fact is that NASCAR implemented this format to increase the unpredictability that comes with its previous structure, similar to F1.

In the older structure, a driver could be declared the Cup Series champion a few races before the season ends if they managed to score enough points. This made the last few races rather unexciting, as the outcome is known and the rest of the standings could change. As far as what NASCAR wanted to achieve from this format, they have. They put an underdog in the playoffs, and the season can go anywhere from there. Although Kyle Larson has a lead in the playoffs due to him winning 4 races this season, Burton has a chance to creep closer to him when the season is concluded.

With anything possible in the future of this season, where do you think Harrison Burton will finish at the end of the playoffs? Share your thoughts in the comments below.