It wasn't the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season this year, but Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 still held plenty of importance.

Especially for Harrison Burton, who got his first career win and put himself in the playoffs.

Burton took the checkered flag in overtime at Daytona International Speedway. He also handed the Wood Brothers their 100th all-time victory.

It followed an exciting Wawa 250 Xfinity Series race won by Ryan Truex Friday night. The weather cooperated both days.

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Harrison Burton wins the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400

Harrison Burton takes the checkered flag in overtime and puts himself in the playoffs. It's also his first career win and the 100th all-time victory for the Wood Brothers.

Another crash with two laps to go

Josh Berry goes airborne and flips upside down, sliding on his roof. Caution flag flies again.

Berry gives a thumbs-up after climbing out of his car.

The Big One, Part 2

Three-wide for several laps was a recipe for exactly what happened, a mammoth crash at the very front of the field with nine laps remaining. Some 14 cars were involved, give or take.

Leader Michael McDowell, coming out of Turn 2, got contact from second-running Ryan Blaney and lost control. His car began to get airborne but returned to its four wheels as it smacked the outside wall.

A who's who of contenders had their nights ended.

As cleanup began, the top five on the leaderboard began to Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon.

Back to green with 16 laps left

Caution over. Green flag flies. Sixteen final laps left at Daytona.

Caution flag comes out after John Hunter Nemechek slide

Kyle Larson bumps John Hunter Nemechek from behind, causing him to slide off the track to the left. The yellow flag flies with 20 laps to go.

Daniel Suarez details Stage 2 fire

Daniel Suarez lasted only 37 laps during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Saturday. The back of his No. 99 Chevrolet caught fire on pit road and burned brightly before his crew put it out.

Here's why:

“I was doing my pit stop just like every single weekend," Suarez said. "The No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) was right behind me and the No. 21 (Harrison Burton) was right in front of me, so unfortunately I got boxed in. We know that every single time we do a pit stop, we drop a little bit of fuel and that’s completely normal.

“Unfortunately, the No. 11 was leaving his pit stall right behind me, and because he was waiting for me to leave, his exhaust fired up the little fuel I dropped. Because I was still parked there, that went up the back of my car where the fuel cell is and it just grabbed it. It was a very unfortunate situation. I don’t know what we could have done differently. Just sad that we’re out of the race this way, but I’m glad I’m fine and the entire team was fine.”

Joey Logano wins Stage 2

Well, we knew it wasn't going to be clean forever.

Following a smooth Stage 1, a wreck swallowed multiple cars and a few others left due to mechanical issues during Stage 2. Joey Logano won it.

Results:

1. Logano

2. Ryan Blaney

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kyle Larson

5. Todd Gilliland

Multi-car wreck in Stage 2

Ross Chastain throttles back, Corey LaJoie taps Noah Gragson from behind, and Gragson loses control. That stops a bunch of traffic. A wreck involves LaJoie, Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin and others.

It also brings out the caution flag.

Josh Berry wins Stage 1

Thirty-five clean laps down at Daytona International Speedway, and it’s Josh Berry who grabs the top spot in Stage 1.

He captures his first stage win ever.

Rounding out the top five: Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney in that order.

Coke Zero Sugar 400 goes green at Daytona

The 25th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is under way at Daytona International Speedway.

Forty drivers started the race, 12 have locked up berths for playoffs that start in two weeks, and plenty of others know this is their last best chance to get a win and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it.

Coke Zero Sugar 400 starting lineup

We're under 30 minutes to race time at Daytona International Speedway. Here is the starting grid.

Row 1

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

2. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

Row 2

3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

4. Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Row 3

5. Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

6. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Row 4

7. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

8. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

Row 5

9. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

10. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Row 6

11. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

12. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

Row 7

13. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

14. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

Row 8

15. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

16. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Row 9

17. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

18. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

Row 10

19. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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

Row 11

21. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

22. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Row 12

23. Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

24. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Row 13

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

26. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Row 14

27. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

28. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Row 15

29. Parker Retzlaff, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet

30. Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Row 16

31. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

32. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Row 17

33. Cody Ware, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford

34. Corey Lajoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Row 18

35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet

36. Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford

Row 19

37. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

38. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet

Row 20

39. Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet

40. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Olympic distance runner Parker Valby serves as ‘honorary event official’

Parker Valby took two weeks off from training after making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. She started running again on Thursday, just ahead of her involvement with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

“It's super cool learning everything about NASCAR and racecar driving,” she said. “Maybe it's my future career.”

The 21-year-old Tampa native will serve as an honorary event official Saturday.

She visited Daytona Beach once before — for a middle-school surf camp — but this is her first trip to the Speedway.

Valby plans to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Shane van Gisbergen lands Cup Series ride with Trackhouse in 2025

Trackhouse Racing announced Saturday it will have a third full-time entry in the NASCAR Cup Series next season. Its driver: Shane van Gisbergen.

Over the last two years, the 35-year-old has run six Cup Series races. He won the first event he entered, the Chicago Street Race, in July of 2023.

This year, SVG has competed full-time in the Xfinity Series and enjoyed three wins and five top-five finishes.

And his new Chevrolet car number? No. 88, digits connected to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other notable NASCAR winners. The charter comes from Stewart-Haas Racing.

Olympic swimmer Bobby Finke talks about being honorary starter of today’s race

Bobby, we know you’ve been busy winning Olympic medals and all lately. But have you practiced waving the green flag?

“I have not, and I’m really nervous for tonight,” said Finke, the honorary starter of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. “I’m scared of dropping it. Hopefully, I don’t mess up.”

The 24-year-old is a Tampa native who attended the University of Florida. He captured gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle and silver in the 800-meter freestyle during the 2024 Paris Games.

He brought his medals with him to Daytona International Speedway Saturday.

“I’m kind of learning to bring them with me everywhere because you never know,” Finke said.

Betting odds for Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona

Let’s start with the rundown from Hard Rock Bets, and remember, these payouts (+1200, +1600, etc.) are based on a wager of $100. Bet $10 and win 10% of that and, yes, do your own math.

+1200: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin

+1300: Ryan Blaney

+1400: Brad Keselowski

+1500: Kyle Bush, Chase Elliott, William Byron

+1600: Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher

+1750: Kyle Larson

+2000: Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell

+2250: Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman

+2500: Austin Cindric

+3000: Ty Gibbs, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

+4000: Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland

+5000: Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley

+6000: Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek

+7500: Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton

+10000: Shane Van Gisbergen

+20000: Parker Retzlaff, Joey Gase, BJ McLeod, Cody Ware

Notice anything different about the above numbers? The payouts up top are a lot higher than the norm, while those at the bottom are a lot lower.

Why? It’s a plate-race, kids, and long-story-short, practically anyone can win. Well, that explains why the odds for the longshots aren’t as long as usual.

Why are the favorites’ payouts bigger? Because while anyone can win, it’s much, much easier to lose one of these crapshoots.

NBC changes commercial format for Coke Zero Sugar 400, additional 2024 Cup Series races

The TV viewing experience will be a little different for the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

NBC Sports will not show full-screen commercials during green-flag action. Saturday at Daytona is the first of three races with the newly implemented strategy, joining Atlanta on Sept. 8 and Talladega on Oct. 6.

The network plans to use only split-screen advertisements under green.

Speedway says sales numbers are great for race weekend

Speedway president Frank Kelleher dropped by the infield media center and dropped a bag of numbers on the table.

Ticket purchases for tonight's race have come from all 50 states, 56 countries, six continents and eight Canadian provinces. According to Frank, all trackside suites and all reserved camping spots sold out.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings

Bubba on the bubble?

That's the case with two regular-season races to go. Wallace sits one point back of Ross Chastain and the final of 16 postseason spots. Twelve drivers have already punched their tickets via wins this year, leaving four openings.

Here are the top 20 drivers in the playoff standings.

1. Kyle Larson, 782 points, four wins

2. William Byron, 728, three

3. Christopher Bell, 703, three

4. Tyler Reddick, 814, two

5. Ryan Blaney, 732, two

6. Denny Hamlin, 711, three

7. Chase Elliott, 804, one

8. Brad Keselowski, 677, one

9. Alex Bowman, 627, one

10. Joey Logano, 561, one

11. Daniel Suarez, 526, one

12. Austin Cindric, 460, one

13. Martin Truex Jr., 682

14. Ty Gibbs, 644

15. Chris Buescher, 621

16. Ross Chastain, 606

17. Bubba Wallace, 605

18. Kyle Busch, 513

19. Chase Briscoe, 491

20. Todd Gilliland, 455

National Weather Service forecast for Coke Zero Sugar 400 in Daytona Beach, Florida

This Afternoon: A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high temperature near 89. East northeast wind around 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11 p.m., then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 76. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

When is the Coke Zero Sugar 400?

The green flag for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is set for 7:53 p.m. Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

How to watch/listen to the Coke Zero Sugar 400

NBC will broadcast the race on TV with radio coverage from MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Coke Zero 400 recap: Harrison Burton wins NASCAR race at Daytona