DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jeff Burton is first and foremost an NBC Sports analyst when he puts on the headset at the start of each NASCAR race, but he was still able to celebrate a special moment late Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
The elder Burton, a 21-time Cup Series winner, was in the booth as his son, Harrison, won his first career Cup Series race.
Leigh Diffey provided the play-by-play of the career-defining moment, shouting, "Jeff, your little boy has done it!" Burton remained quiet, but he couldn't help himself as he pumped his arm in triumph in the broadcast booth.
Jeff Burton was LOVING seeing his son Harrison cross the line to win at Daytona. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/VG9bPD4jYe
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 25, 2024
Burton then exited the booth, raced down to the infield, and joined the celebration with his son and Wood Brothers Racing. He even had the opportunity to give Harrison a big hug immediately after the victory.
The special moment did not end in the infield grass. Burton and his wife, Kim, went to the Daytona Media Center and watched with pride as Harrison answered numerous questions about this eventful race.
"He's been there for me, he's called me when I don't want to answer his phone call after a bad race, talked me through what I need to do, how I need to handle things," Harrison said about his father during the post-race press conference.
"He obviously raised me -- and my mom as well -- both raised me to be the guy that I am today. I'm proud of that off the racetrack alone. Then to make the nights that my mom spent on the road quarter midget racing with me while my dad was Cup racing, to make the effort that my dad took away from his Cup racing opportunity to help me in quarter midgets and late model racing to make that worth it to win at the Cup level.
"I've been told by him that he's not proud of me based off whether I win or lose, it's how I handle myself and what I do. But, for me, winning is way better than losing. It's just cool to make that, for them, seem like it paid off."
While Saturday night's race was monumental for Harrison, it wasn't the first time that his father was in the booth during the closing laps of a win. A similar situation actually occurred in 2020 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Noah Gragson, a JR Motorsports driver at the time, was in control of the Xfinity Series race with three laps remaining. He had Anthony Alfredo behind him and Harrison in third place. It did not appear that anyone could chase Gragson down.
The situation changed as Harrison, who drove for Joe Gibbs Racing, passed Alfredo and then quickly began closing the gap. He pulled within two car lengths after taking the white flag and then he made a big move exiting Turn 4 to take the lead.
"Harrison Burton turns left, he goes by Noah," Rick Allen shouted. "Harrison Burton is going to win at Texas!"
Like Saturday night's race at Daytona, the elder Burton remained quiet as Allen and Steve Letarte discussed the race-winning pass.
Burton ultimately rejoined the conversation to discuss how the end of the race was heartbreaking for Gragson considering that the JR Motorsports driver missed out on an automatic spot in the Xfinity Series Championship 4.
"He was quiet," Harrison said Saturday night at Daytona. "I won an Xfinity race and he didn't say a dang word except he felt bad for Noah that I passed him on the last lap. What is that, dude? You can be excited. It's okay (laughs)."
Burton didn't verbalize his excitement about Burton's Xfinity win in 2020, nor did he Saturday night at Daytona. However, the footage provided a different perspective of the former Cup racer. It showed that he is a proud father.