NASCAR's last place driver is headed to the Cup Series playoffs
By Asher Fair
Wood Brothers Racing's Harrison Burton fell to 34th and last place in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings after the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, largely due to the uptick in form from Spire Motorsports' Zane Smith.
While Burton's top finish of the season was a 10th place effort at Talladega Superspeedway in April, Smith finished in a career-high second at Nashville Superspeedway in late June, just a few hundredths of a second behind race winner Joey Logano.
Burton remained in last place in the standings entering Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, and by a relatively large gap. He was 26 points behind Smith and averaging just over 11 points per race.
Following the overtime-extended 164-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, Burton still sits in last place in the point standings.
The difference is that he is now a NASCAR Cup Series race winner.
As a result of his last-lap pass for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 victory on Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, his former Truck Series team owner, in overtime, Burton is one of the 16 drivers set to advance to the four-round, 10-race playoffs.
The 23-year-old Huntersville, North Carolina native is one of 13 drivers who have punched their tickets to the postseason by winning a race during the regular season. Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon also won a race that would have locked him in, but his victory was later encumbered.
Prior to last year, there was a rule that a race winner needed to be inside the top 30 in the point standings in order for the win to count toward playoff eligibility, but that is no longer the case.
Burton finds himself 50 points out of the top 30 with only next Sunday night's race at Darlington Raceway remaining on the regular season calendar, effectively meaning he won't finish in the top 30. With an average of 12.24 points per race, he is still 10 points behind Smith for 33rd place.
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The Cook Out Southern 500 is set to determine which three drivers join the 13, including Burton, already locked into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. That race is set to be broadcast live on USA Network from Darlington Raceway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!
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