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In Daytona, the Wood Brothers achieve their historic 100th victory and trigger a celebration

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There are popular victories, the feel-good victories that put a smile on everyone's face. And then there's another, higher level of popularity.

Wood Brothers Racing moves into this category every time they win a race, especially when it's the 100th victory in the organization's history and it comes at Daytona International Speedway, a track inextricably linked to a team whose place in NASCAR stretches back to the sport's beginnings.

“Winning here means more to me than winning anywhere else. It's just special,” said Eddie Wood, CEO and co-owner of the team. “Our father raced on the beach, specifically on sand. My goodness, that was almost 75 years ago. I think his first race on sand was in 1953. That was a long time ago.”

“Winning Daytona is just something very special for our family.”

Amid falling confetti, big hugs, beaming faces, tears of joy and even long sips of Busch Light, the love for the Wood Brothers was on full display late Saturday night in Daytona's Victory Lane, where Harrison Burton celebrated a hardly improbable triumph that finally gave the team a triple-digit win rate.

“It's just really, really special, really, really cool,” Burton said. “We got the 100th Wood Brothers win in the most Wood Brothers way. We were down and came back with momentum. We're going to keep doing that until my time here is done.”

The Wood Brothers are a NASCAR institution, with roots stretching back to the earliest days of the league's founding: They competed in their first race as a team just one year after NASCAR sanctioned the first race in 1949.

When you win with the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, one of NASCAR's most legendary numbers, you are among the kings of the sport.

But the level that AJ Foyt, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough set with the famous No. 21 is a level the team will struggle to reach again. Wins just don't come as often anymore. Before Saturday night, over seven years had passed since the Wood Brothers last won. And before that, it had been 2011. And before that, 2001.

Futility breeds doubt. The current version of the Wood Brothers, now a third-generation family-run team, is a far cry from the version of yesterday that dominated the sport in the 1960s and 1970s. A lot has happened since 2017, a few highs and close calls along the way, but also plenty of lows that made it easy to wonder if the Wood Brothers would ever reach the 100-win mark.

“You just don't know. These things are so hard to win,” Eddie Wood said. “We've been in a position a few times since 2017, but it just hasn't happened. These things are so hard to win.”

But when the Wood Brothers succeed, a flood of recognition erupts throughout the NASCAR industry. One visitor to Victory Lane on Saturday night epitomized that special moment. It was the driver who had most recently given the Wood Brothers a win and who didn't want to miss out on the celebration, no matter how his race turned out.

Around the same time the field reached the green flag for the final restart, Ryan Blaney was driving a golf cart back to his RV after a late crash. He wouldn't make it back in time to see the finish, so he jumped off the cart to watch the finale on a TV in front of a random RV in the driver/owner parking lot.


“The win (at Daytona) is bigger for me than the win anywhere else,” Wood Brothers co-owner Eddie Wood said of Harrison Burton's performance. “It's just something special.” (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

When Burton saw the checkered flag, Blaney headed straight for Victory Lane.

“I was jumping up and down,” Blaney said. “I was hooting and hollering. … I was a fanboy for Harrison and the Wood Brothers and the whole family.”

After congratulating everyone, Blaney sat on a wall near the stage with a beer in hand. He was going to enjoy this. The Wood Brothers had always told him that he would be part of their family forever, something the defending champion took to heart.

“You just have to be here to see it,” Blaney said. “I mean, I'm just so excited.”

“I just wanted to experience it because I know that I played a very small part in it through my victory, but you can't miss a 100. It's a historic thing.”

Blaney was in no hurry to leave. Even after Burton's car was wheeled away for inspection and most of the team had exited, he stayed. He and Jeremy Bullins, Burton's current crew chief and Blaney's former one, chatted at the corner of the stage, laughing and smiling and telling stories.

There was a lot to warm up.

Few thought that Burton would win. The 23-year-old came into the weekend in 34th place, last among the full-time drivers. Up until Daytona, the season had been so disappointing that Burton had already been informed that he would not return to the team for a fourth season.

But there was Burton, a 70-1 underdog who beat two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in overtime to earn his first career victory — and at a track where the Wood brothers have been so successful over the years. The only lap he led all evening was the final one.

“To see my name above the door of the 21 that cross the finish line at Daytona is pretty impressive,” said Burton. “It's just typical of a junior racer with Quarter Midgets and Late Models. It's the kind of situation you dream of.”

The Wood Brothers have now won a race in eight consecutive decades, a distinction that not even current superteams Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske can claim.

“I think that’s what I’m most proud of,” said COO and co-owner Len Wood.

Eddie Wood said: “It's indescribable. I really don't have the words.”

No, the Wood Brothers can no longer be classified as a superteam. Not that that matters. The Wood Brothers have long been in a class of their own, reserved only for themselves. And on Saturday night at Daytona, they added another chapter to their rich history: They joined the Century Club they weren't sure they would ever be a part of.

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(Top photo of Harrison Burton and his team celebrating Saturday's win: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

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