Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging team were knocked out of Monday’s rain-delayed Daytona 500 after just six laps.
Burton had his Mustang Dark Horse just outside the top 10 when a driver running to his outside got a push that caused him to suddenly turn left into the No. 21 Mustang. The contact shoved Burton off the racing surface into the grass on the inside of the track.
With matters out of his control, Burton eventually slid back up onto the banking, where he was hit by oncoming cars. Six other drivers were involved.
Burton was uninjured but the Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Mustang was too damaged to continue. He was credited with 39th place.
“I don’t remember exactly who it was on my outside,” Burton told reporters at the track after being checked at the track’s care center. “It just looked like they either got a bad push or got loose and just hit me in the right side and sent me across.
“The grass was so wet that once I got in the grass I thought I’d be OK, but the car just kept going and going, so really sad that our day is over as quick as it was.”
Burton said the wreck was especially disappointing because the No. 21 Mustang had been fast in the preliminary events at Daytona and finished a strong fifth in Thursday’s second Duel qualifying race.
“We had a really fast Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford Mustang,” he said. “It’s just a bummer. There’s nothing we can do but just move on and try to win next week.”
Burton said it’s not uncommon for drivers to push one another at Daytona, and to run three-lanes wide, but it requires drivers to be precise in the moves they make.
“I don’t mind top of three-wide,” he said. “We should be good enough to do that, but I guess just the pushing end and the placement of the pushing was not ideal, obviously.”
Once things go awry, there’s not much a driver can do at that point, Burton said.
“It’s a pretty helpless feeling, but I’m OK,” he said. “I felt fine. All good. I’m just over wrecking early that’s for sure.”
Burton and the Wood Brothers team will return to the track later this week for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
WBR PR
