Three Up, Three Down: Drivers in focus leaving Daytona

Another topsy-turvy Saturday night showdown at Daytona International Speedway left some drivers joyous and others with sinking fortunes as the NASCAR Cup Series regular season winds down.

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The fallout from Daytona’s summertime stunner tees up a tantalizing regular-season finale in next Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) at Darlington Raceway, where the 16-driver postseason field will be set. See who’s trending upward and who is going the wrong way after Daytona.

THREE UP ⬆️

1. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Started: 20th

Finished: 1st

What happened: The 23-year-old driver’s final-lap momentum in overtime pushed Burton to his first Cup Series win and the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team to its landmark 100th victory. The triumph in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 sparked a touching family celebration, all while reversing the fortunes of a team that sits 34th in the Cup Series standings.

What’s next: Josh Berry is still slated to take over the No. 21 Ford next season, but Burton will close out his three-year Wood Brothers tenure as a playoff driver as he auditions for a 2025 ride. For the Wood Brothers, it means an end to their seven-year stretch of sitting on win No. 99, and as Len Wood pointed out post-race, it’s an eighth decade of winning NASCAR races for the family business.

2. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

Started: 13th

Finished: 10th

What happened: Buescher — who entered Saturday’s 400-miler as the defending race winner — led twice for 10 laps, mustering his second consecutive top-10 finish. Much has been made about the RFK Racing driver’s focus on wins over points, but finishes of third and ninth at the stage breaks helped him pocket 10 extra points — a buffer that offset some of the playoff-picture shake-up from Burton’s upset victory.

What’s next: Buescher enters the Darlington regular-season finale with a 21-point edge over Bubba Wallace as the last driver provisionally in the playoff field. It’s also a favorable track for the 31-year-old driver, who led 21 laps his last time there before a late-race collision with Tyler Reddick knocked him out of contention.

3. Parker Retzlaff, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 29th

Finished: 7th

What happened: The 21-year-old driver gave the winning aerodynamic push to Burton down the backstretch on the white-flag lap, and he ran as high as second through the final set of corners. Retzlaff slipped back to a top-10 result in the last scramble to the finish, but the outcome still marked an impressive career-best in just his second Cup Series start.

What’s next: Retzlaff returns to his full-time role in the Xfinity Series, where he ranks 18th in the standings in his second year with Jordan Anderson Racing. Just four races remain before that circuit’s 12-driver postseason field is determined. For the plucky, part-time Beard Motorsports organization, its focus on the Cup Series’ superspeedway races netted its second straight top-10 result. The No. 62 team also ran sixth at Talladega in April with Anthony Alfredo behind the wheel.

THREE DOWN ⬇️

1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

Started: 25th

Finished: 28th

What happened: Reddick left Daytona with his lead atop the Cup Series standings intact, but his charmed run of seven straight finishes in the top six ended in a Lap 153 crash. The No. 45 Toyota driver has just two DNFs this season — both because of wrecks and both at Daytona.

What’s next: Reddick still has the Regular Season Championship — and its bounty of 15 playoff points — within reach, leading Kyle Larson by 17 points in the standings. He’ll head to Darlington with aims of replicating his springtime performance there — pole position, 174 laps led — if not the ultimate result — 32nd place after a run-in with Chris Buescher.

2. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 10th

Finished: 36th

What happened: Elliott’s otherwise spotless streak ended with his first DNF of the season Saturday night, when he was snagged in a multicar tangle in Stage 2. Dating back to last season, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver was running at the finish in 37 consecutive races until this weekend’s mishap.

What’s next: Elliott’s postseason spot has been in hand since his win back in April at Texas Motor Speedway, but he has extra incentive at Darlington with a chance at the Regular Season Championship. He’s third in the standings, 18 points behind leader Tyler Reddick, and his last three Darlington finishes have been solid runs of 12th, eighth and third.

3. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

Started: 1st

Finished: 30th

What happened: McDowell’s fourth pole position of the season held promise in a race that he and his Ford mates mostly controlled. McDowell led 26 laps — second only to the race-high 34 laps led by fellow Ford pilot Joey Logano — but his No. 34 Mustang spun from the top spot after a bump gone wrong with nine laps to go in regulation.

What’s next: McDowell will need some Darlington mojo to make the Cup Series Playoffs for the third time in four years. The veteran’s only avenue to reach the postseason is a clinching victory, and he was 10th at the 1.366-mile South Carolina track in the spring.