AUSTIN, Texas – Saturday afternoon saw William Byron and No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro compete at Circuit of The Americas in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After 46 laps around the 3.41-mile circuit, the team earned a runner-up finish in Austin.
Byron rolled off the grid in the ninth position and quickly began working his way through the field. By the end of stage one, the No. 17 entry occupied the fifth position. Per the new regulations for road courses this season, caution flags are no longer thrown at stage breaks.
RELATED: View life 'On the Road' in new series from Hendrick Motorsports
Two quick caution flags came out on laps 18 and 22 shortly after stage two began. After the third restart, Byron settled into the second position and quickly went after the top spot. On lap 27, the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro overtook race leader Sheldon Creed for the top spot with the caution flag coming back out a lap later. Under the yellow, the No. 17 dropped back five positions and restarted in the 11th spot after going through the choose rule. Stage two restarted with a single lap remaining in the segment. However, a caution was deployed for an on-track incident as the field made their way back to the start/finish line with Byron crossing the line in the seventh spot to end stage two.
The final segment began with the No. 17 entry lining up in the fifth spot. Under green, Byron maneuvered his way to the front before settling into the second spot behind AJ Allmendinger. Through the final run to the checkered flag, Byron's charge came up just short as he crossed the line in the runner-up position behind Allmendinger.
"I was getting one final run at him (Allmendinger). Obviously, they were really good all day," Byron said after the race. "Thanks to HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet. It was a great effort. I just need to clean it up in these cars. The downshifting and the rev match; I needed to get used to that. I just needed to do a better job there. Had a lot of fun racing them. The couple times I had a shot, I just needed to do a little better job. Hopefully, we'll get them tomorrow."
The No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry will compete in three additional Xfinity Series events in 2023. Kyle Larson will drive at Sonoma Raceway as well as Darlington Raceway while Alex Bowman will compete at Watkins Glen International for the team.
RELATED: See the No. 17 Xfinity Series Chevrolet back on track
Prior to the drop of the green flag, Byron earned his first career pole position at Circuit of The Americas in the NASCAR Cup Series. See the No. 24 entry on track Sunday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
