DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Winning time is William time.
The sample size is now too large to make a case otherwise.
William Byron added yet another bullet point to his rapidly expanding resume, taking advantage of a late crash with some slick and timely maneuvering to capture his second straight DAYTONA 500 on Sunday. With the win, he became just one of five drivers to win the Great American Race in back-to-back seasons, joining Richard Petty, Cale Yarbrough, Sterling Marlin and Denny Hamlin. He’s also the youngest driver to ever win the event twice.
“Just trusted my instincts on the last lap there,” Byron said. “I felt like they were getting squirrelly on the bottom, and I was honestly going to go third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back.
“Just obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor. But just really proud of this team. Worked super hard all week and had an amazing car. Just had a really hard time with the fuel saving and kind of staying towards the front.”
The result also furthered Byron’s reputation for coming up big in milestone moments for Hendrick Motorsports. The victory gave team owner Rick Hendrick his 10th in the DAYTONA 500, breaking a tie with Petty Enterprises. Hendrick Motorsports now owns the most victories in all four NASCAR Cup Series crown jewel events (Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, Brickyard 400).
“It was definitely on Rick's mind. He knows stats like that,” Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon said. “He knows numbers, not just in racing, in the automobile business, too. You just ask anybody. He was certainly well aware that he was at nine.”
Undoubtedly, Byron’s late-race heroics will be replayed for a long, long time. He was in ninth place on the backstretch of the last lap and yet, when leaders Denny Hamlin, Cole Custer and Austin Cindric got together, Byron found a hole on the outside and broke through the chaos, suddenly clearing the field and holding off Tyler Reddick all the way back to the line.
The checkered flag waved seemingly eons after the race began in a start that was moved up an hour from its originally scheduled time. However, only nine laps were run before the rain showers forecasted for days arrived at the speedway shortly after 2 p.m.
The pause lasted for nearly three-and-a-half hours until drivers were called back to their cars at 5:25 p.m. Then, after nine caution laps with several cars ducking on to pit road for service, the yellow flag was displayed again as a brief shower moved back over the track.
Finally, the race went green for good.
Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, who finished runner up to the No. 24 a year ago, came home sixth and added 11 stage points for good measure. He was one of several cars collected in the final fracas. Chase Elliott came home 15th and Kyle Larson finished 20th.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns with the second event of the season next Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Start time is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the race will air on Fox.