“You go from the lowest of lowest to just on top of it.” Wood Brothers Racing president Jon Wood took time to process what happened last Saturday. A team had just three victories since 2000, barely expected the glory that Harrison Burton brought. The 23-year-old driver never scratched Victory Lane over 98 race starts, and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race seemed like just another uneventful day for the team after their last victory in 2017 at Pocono Raceway.

Yet Burton flashed a glimpse of what the No. 21 car achieved in its heyday in the 20th century. And he brought his maiden win and his team’s 100th victory in the Cup Series. Getting on that glorious pedestal still took time for Wood, as he recently claimed.

In a conversation with Sirius XM NASCAR, the third-generation team owner said, “We’ve been on the tail end of that a lot, not just with Harrison…For us, it’s a matter of coming away with a decent enough finish and having a somewhat okay payday. And that takes us where we can survive and do it again. That’s sort of the thinking, just surviving things. Never really worried about winning them.” But how did NASCAR’s hallowed organization reach such a low?

Drivers simply failed to replicate David Pearson’s success. The team’s peak came during the 1970s when Pearson single-handedly clinched 43 victories in eight seasons, sporting the 21 number on his ride. However, their fortunes spiraled once they crossed over into the 21st century. From winning 30 races in the 1960s to 54 in the 1970s, their wins came down to just nine in the 1980s. Their second-most decorated prospect, Neil Bonnett, won nine races for the team between 1979-1982. He joined the team for the second time in 1989, but was forced to retire after a massive crash in Darlington—the fifth race of the 1990 season—left him with a broken sternum, amnesia and broken ribs.

The troubled team hit another low as The Great Recession nearly shut its doors if not for Team Penske and Ford’s support. They were forced to run a part-time schedule from 2007 to 2015, and not getting a charter from NASCAR despite being the oldest team sent WBR toward rock-bottom. It also meant their prize purses were significantly smaller than chartered teams.

“When we didn’t get a charter, and we were talking about it, it was the lowest point of lows. We had to come here, face the music, and say, ‘I think we’ll be OK.’ And we are. That’s the part that’s just so surreal in this,” Jon Wood said. Occasional victories came – Elliott Sadler (Bristol, 2001), Trevor Bayne (Daytona 500, 2011), and Ryan Blaney (Pocono, 2017). Harrison Burton’s arrival in 2021 barely caused a blip. But he proved his doubters wrong at Daytona and also raised the team’s standard.

Wood further recollected the Coke Zero’s last lap, when he could not believe Harrison Burton was winning until he actually crossed the finish line. “So I see Harrison coming off of 4…and he’s leading. He’s from the top to the bottom sideways, got Kyle Busch behind him. And we were just like, we’ll see the back bumper facing something serious, just give it a minute. And it didn’t…it was pretty impressive.” Wood further heaped praises on Burton for his first Cup win. “I saw a different Harrison Burton that last restart than I think I’ve seen until now. It was a totally different race that he ran and I hope that it gave him a confidence boost moving forward.”

Harrison Burton had a horde of well-wishers congratulating him on Victory Lane. Yet his most-awaited congratulations came from his fiancée.

Celebration of love at Daytona

A race victory feels more grand when you have your friends, family, and beloved watching you. Harrison Burton felt a surge of emotions for bringing glory to his team, but even more so for bringing ecstasy to his family. As Jeff and Kim Burton rushed to congratulate their son, another individual also could not contain her happiness. Jenna Petty, Burton’s partner, has been through all his obstacles and trials since they were 15 years old. On Saturday she rushed through the infield grass to greet her husband-to-be, and the latter lifted her in the air, marking this milestone in their romantic journey.

Petty gushed with pride as she told NASCAR post-race: “Just so surreal. I mean, that’s a moment that you dream about. You watch people do it week in and week out, and you want it so bad. You want it so bad for him, for your family, and for everybody else, just to see that and see how much we still want it, and how much that he’s still working so hard for it. We are hard workers at heart, and we have always celebrated each other’s successes and been there for each other’s hardest times, and so that’s just such a huge moment for us over these years to get to celebrate this monumental win together.”

Evidently, Harrison Burton is wrapped in a warm bubble of love no matter what hardships he faces. Yet the Daytona victory went a long way to secure his racing career, which will unfold in the following races.