DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: In the closing laps of Stage 1 in the Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski turned rookie Harrison Burton on the backstretch on Lap 63 to trigger an eight-car accident that eliminated several drivers, including three-time race champion Denny Hamlin.
Two laps from the finish of Stage 1, Keselowski tried to bump draft Burton in his inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race for the historic Wood Bros. Racing but the shove sent Burton’s Ford Mustang sideways and into the path of William Byron who shot to the inside backstretch wall.
Meanwhile, Burton’s car became briefly airborne after contract from Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and sat back down on the ground after another hit from outside Daytona 500 pole sitter Alex Bowman.
“You always hear about how it goes quiet and that’s true,” offered Burton after being evaluated and released from the infield care center at Daytona.
“I don’t know, it’s just a frustrating weekend obviously. We worked really hard all week in the lead up to that and it’s hard to tell what happened. Maybe got pushed on a bad spot on the bumper.
“(Just) wanting to get stage points there, trying to be smart about it and just got turned around there.”
In a discussion with his Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing crew during the caution, Keselowski seemed baffled that Burton spun. “I was attached to him pretty good there,” Keselowski explained. “I’m surprised.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell were also involved but were able to continue in the 64th annual event initially, but Bell eventually went to the NASCAR Cup Series garage with rear suspension issues.
Burton, Byron, Chastain and Hamlin were eliminated from the race.
Sunday’s wreck marked the first time that Hamlin would fail to finish the “Great American Race” in 17 attempts and his first Did Not Finish (DNF) since Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2020.
“It looked like the two cars on top. The 6 (Brad Keselowski) was pushing the 21 (Harrison Burton) and you could see the 21 was kind of getting out of control there, so you know the mindset was that you’ve got to back off but I think the 6 was just insistent on pushing him at all costs and eventually turned the 21 around,” explained Hamlin.
“Tough, you know, considering it was just for the stage. We were kind of boxed in there where I noticed that something was going to happen, but I was boxed in, I was behind a teammate and I wanted to try to help. Again, just too aggressive pushing right there when they weren’t lined up and in control.”
Despite a 39th place finish at Daytona, Burton said confidence will carry himself and his team to Auto Club (Calf.) Speedway on Feb. 27.
“We take confidence from it (Daytona),” added Burton. “At the end of the day everyone knew we were here. We were leading when we crashed. Our Wood Brothers group brought a fast Ford down here and we were showing it. Stage points really matter and as a rookie it’s big to get them, so I felt like I wanted to push for those, but obviously I’d love to be out there racing still.
“I don’t know what I could have done different. It’s kind of hard to be in the lead and say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be up here.’ You feel like that’s the safest spot, so just have to watch. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I just got a bad push and spun,’ but I feel like the people that always get better are ones that can look at themselves and learn from it, so that’s what I’m gonna try and do and try and get better.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
