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Harrison Burton won a thrilling overtime finish at Daytona International Speedway after two enormous crashes took key contenders out of the race.
John Hunter-Nemecheck was the first front-runner taken out of contention with 21 laps to go when he got pushed by the #5 of Kyle Larson and spun off the nose of Rick Ware Racing’s Justin Haley in the #51.
Racing resumed with 16 laps to go with Austin Cindric (#2 Team Penske) leading Brad Keselowski (#6 RFK Racing). Keselowski, however, was forced to serve a penalty for jumping the restart.
With nine laps to go, front-row starter Michael McDowell in the #34 spun after a push from Cindric.
The crash claimed several cars, including Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske), Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports), Alex Bowman (#48 Hendrick Motorsports), Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing), Bubba Wallace (#23 23XI Racing), Haley and more claiming upwards of a third of the field.
McDowell flipped his Ford Mustang onto its side before it landed back on its wheels on the speedway apron.
OH MY GOODNESS.
MICHAEL MCDOWELL SPINS AND THERE’S A HUGE CRASH. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/lJ2TvbM3Ln
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 25, 2024
The race resumed with three laps to go and it wasn’t long before the chaos kicked off again.
Josh Berry (#4 Stewart-Haas Racing), who restarted second on the outside of Cindric, spun and flipped with two laps to go after Kyle Busch pushed Cindric and got him loose.
William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports) was another victim in that crash, who had been running at the pointy end.
Berry’s crash marked the fourth flip for NASCAR across the Cup Series and Xfinity Series over the past week.
Corey LaJoie (Spire Motorsports) flipped at Michigan International Speedway and Kyle Sieg suffered a near-identical crash a day earlier.
“It’s hard to say exactly how it started,” said Joey Logano.
More angles of Josh Berry’s scary crash at Daytona.#NASCAR | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/uHa2QpKDRg
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 25, 2024
“I’m assuming he (Michael McDowell) got pushed into the corner and just came across, right in front of me. Just nothing you can do.
“It’s the end of a speedway race and you’re trying to position yourself the best place you can but the wreck always starts in the lead.
“You just saw another on there with Josh Berry. We’ve gotta figure out how to keep the cars on the ground. We’re not doing too good at that part. Hopefully we can figure out how to do that better.
“Overall, I’m proud of the effort of Team Penske here today. Proud of the effort, proud of the speed, but here I am at the infield care centre.”
After another lengthy delay, the race resumed with an overtime finish.
Busch led Wood Brothers Racing driver Harrison Burton to the green flag.
With a push from Christopher Bell, Busch stretched his legs and led by one car length at the start-finish line.
However, with the support of Parker Retzlaff, Harrison Burton shot to the lead on the back straight.
Burton cleared Busch and covered the Richard Childress Racing driver on the low line. Burton blocked and beat Busch to the chequered flag to book his place in the playoffs.
HARRISON BURTON WINS AT DAYTONA! #NASCAR | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/cEEClLuHi9
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 25, 2024
There were emotional scenes in the commentary box as Jeff Burton cried tears of joy and celebrated with Leigh Diffey and Steve Letarte.
