The 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona made history this Sunday. The history-makers hogging the spotlight include Harrison Burton, NASCAR’s first driver born after 2000 to win a Cup race. He achieved that feat by winning the sport’s oldest active race team–Wood Brothers Racing, their 100th win in NASCAR. The stage, the stakes, and the results could not get any bigger than this.

Likewise, a Burton embraced the Daytona Victory Lane since Harrison’s uncle, Ward, won the 500 in 2002. ‘The Mayor’ Jeff Burton beamed with pride from the NBC broadcast area as Leigh Diffey called his son’s triumph to the world. “Jeff, your little boy has done it.” As Diffey announced these wonderful bearings on live TV, the camera panned to The Mayor’s wife, Kim, seated atop the #21 pit box, overwhelmed to see her son win his first career Cup Series race in front of millions.

Indeed, their “little boy” had finally “done it.” But his parent’s passionate celebrations took away the spotlight when the dust finally settled in Daytona, and understandably so.

Harrison Burton’s win is like no other in NASCAR history

Kim Burton has been around to celebrate multiple of her husband’s 48 NASCAR wins across the Cup and Xfinity Series. Longtime fans are not unaware of her emotions running free at the tracks in the ‘90s and the 2000s when The Mayor was busy racking up wins for teams like Roush Racing and Richard Childress Racing.

But after Sunday’s race concluded with her 23-year-old son adding one more to that incredible legacy, something different shone in Kim Burton’s eyes. With tears rolling down her face, the pride of a mother burned bright as Harrison pulled out a blinder from under the nose of Kyle Busch. As journalist Matt Weaver shared on his Twitter feed in the ensuing moments, “Kim Burton is predictably hysterical in the media center right now. Just a constant stream of tears.” After all, it’s not every day that an individual gets the chance to call themselves the wife and the mother of a NASCAR Cup race winner. 

Kim has invested herself deeply in 23-year-old Harrison’s still young NASCAR career. Her involvement is evident through the passion she brings to race tracks on any given weekend her son races. This weekend was a little extra special for the Burtons. Once Harrison made that emotional first trip from Victory Lane to the media center to answer questions, that’s where his parents were, proudly watching him make his respectable advances.

As per Kelly Crandall of RACER.com, the #21 driver told the press, “I hope the pit box is OK,” after finding out about how excited his mom was to watch him win live. Kim Burton replied from the other side of the room, “I didn’t watch the whole last lap, so I didn’t hit anything.” It’s quite a wholesome exchange that showcased the deep bond this mother and son duo cherish. 

Jeff Burton was right there to witness all of this unfold at the press conference. The 53-year-old’s no-nonsense demeanor shed when he rushed down from the broadcast booth to embrace his son in a tear-jerking moment surrounded by team members and cameras. Twenty-four years ago, The Mayor won the 2000 Pepsi 400 at Daytona for the first time in his own NASCAR career. With Harrison’s triumph, the Burtons have now etched themselves into a very exclusive group of father-son duos to have won the event, the others being Dale Earnhardt & Dale Jr. alongside Bobby & Davey Allison.

To see their son win in such breathtaking fashion by leading only half a lap against a 2x Cup champ like Kyle Busch warrants extended celebrations for the entire Burton family. But as Peter Stratta reminded everyone on Twitter, “This weekend marked 10 years since @JeffBurton’s last #NASCAR start.”

Talk about a true full-circle moment, if there ever was one in NASCAR. But as he reminisced about that 2014 Bristol Night Race in Tony Stewart’s #14, his wife appreciated Kyle Busch for his commendable control that also factored in Harrison Burton’s first career Cup win.

Kim Burton appreciates Kyle Busch’s morals

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Kyle Busch missed out on a confirmed playoff berth by only 0.047 seconds at Daytona. Had he won, it would’ve been his first victory on the racetrack since 2008. Although his second-place finish is his best so far this season, the only option left for Kyle Busch to have a shot at his third Cup Series championship would only come after he wins the Regular Season championship finale next Sunday at the Southern 500 at Darlington.

Harrison Burton turned up a little lucky in NASCAR overtime, thanks to 21-year-old Parker Retzlaff, who helped get the #21 past Kyle Busch’s #8 on the outside lane, with a well-timed bump draft. Retzlaff later revealed to Bob Pockrass in an interview that “he wanted to be in position to push Kyle Busch, a Chevy, at the end but didn’t want to give up a row on the restart.” He debated that driving on Burton’s bumper would’ve given him the best chance for a shock Daytona win. Regardless, Retzlaff finished seventh.

Conversely, in his post-race interview, Busch expressed his disappointment. But also appeared eager to show up with a win at Darlington Raceway next weekend. That would lock his #8 team into the playoffs for good. However, one comment he made about Harrison Burton caught the attention of none other than Kim Burton on Twitter. “Besides just flat out wrecking him, there was nothing else I could do,” Kyle had said to NBC when asked if he could do anything different to switch his fortunes up on that last lap. And although Burton threw a few blocks, 2024 Kyle Busch did not drive through his bumper for the win, unlike his teammate Austin Dillon at Richmond.

This little anecdote drew a reply from Kim Burton, who reposted NBC’s official video interview, writing, “I appreciate Kyle saying his only chance was Turning someone right rear at Daytona would be bad…. That he had the morals not to do that even with playoffs is huge for Kyle’s race morals.” Many agreed with Kim’s sentiments as the Rowdy of past days would’ve probably done exactly the opposite in a desperate late bid to make the Round of 16.

But the question remains: can Kyle Busch make the playoffs at Darlington next weekend? Or could it be another surprise contender rising to the occasion yet again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.