Harrison Burton’s win last Saturday, winning his first Cup Series race at Daytona, took the NASCAR world by surprise. Even by a long shot, no one predicted that Burton could completely flip the dynamics of the playoffs race. An outside winner has surely put the likes of Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, and Chris Buescher in a tough spot with just one race to go in the regular season.

Reacting to this win, even Kevin Harvick expressed his concern regarding this format of NASCAR racing. One that allows a driver to completely flip their flop season into success with one race victory. But against popular opinion, Chase Elliott has come out to publicly defend Burton and the Wood Brothers Racing. Stating that the #21 team made the most of the current format and were the deserved winners.

Harrison Burton won the race fair and square, according to Chase Elliott

The playoffs format is a rather tricky prospect that has been mired in controversies over the years. But the recent format change allows even drivers placed outside the top 30 in points to have a real shot at the playoffs. In 2024, an argument can be made on how the best drivers are not advancing further to the knockout phase. Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Harrison Burton have set an example for that.

Burton’s win certainly flipped the dynamics of the playoffs bubble, leading to conversations about the #21 team’s worth as a championship contender. But Elliott wasn’t having any of this and shared his honest opinion while speaking to Bob Pockrass. “Not turn your question around to something else, but I just wanna say that I really am happy for all parties involved. Jeff Burton’s been a good friend of mine, and I’ve enjoyed watching Harrison too, so really just happy for them.”

“Look, they don’t make the rules; NASCAR makes the rules, and this is the format that they created and this is what you’re gonna get sometimes whenever the cards fall like they did on Saturday night. So I think for any of us to question that is unfair; this is the reality, and that’s the format they rightfully took advantage of,” Elliott added.

On the flip side, Harrison Burton helped his team, Wood Brothers Racing, clinch their 100th Cup Series victory. It was indeed a rather emotional win for both the driver and the team as they will be parting ways at the end of the 2024 season.

The 100th win for Wood Brothers Racing means the world to the young driver

Usually, if a NASCAR team decides to part ways with its current drivers, the focus always shifts to the future project. But both Burton and Wood Brothers decided to give it their all in the remainder of the 2024 season. The objective of the 100th win for the team kept the fire burning in the #21 team camp, and against all odds, they managed to get their historic result at the Daytona International Speedway.

“It’s just been the hardest three years of my life. There’s no denying. It’s just been rough and these guys have rallied behind me when it matters the most…We kept saying that in our meetings that we had a chance to get No. 100 for the Wood Brothers and that’s something that you can’t take lightly. We as a group have that place in history now forever for the 100th win for the Wood Brothers and, to me, that just means the world,” Harrison Burton said after the race.

Although the 23-year-old was lamenting about his next steps to safeguard his career in the Cup Series, he has now found a new objective for this season. “Now we have a chance to be in the playoffs, so we’re not gonna roll over and die. We’ve had a rough year, but this is the shot in the arm we’ve needed and we’re gonna go to Darlington set on kill.”

A win at Daytona is indeed special, and it just might have raised his stock as a prospect for the team looking for a new driver in 2025.