CONCORD, N.C. – Hendrick Motorsports brought home the regular-season championship and two top-10 finishes from Daytona International Speedway.
Kyle Larson, who earned the pole position for the 160-lap race but then moved to the rear prior to the start due to inspection issues, brought home the organization’s first regular-season title after his 20th-place finish was good enough to keep him ahead of second-place Denny Hamlin in the point standings.
Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott both earned top-10 finishes, being scored seventh and eighth, respectively, after a two-lap overtime dash to the checkers. This was Bowman’s third top-10 finish at the 2.5-mile superspeedway and Elliott’s third consecutive top-10 effort at the Florida racetrack.
William Byron started the race on the front row and ran up front for the majority of the race until his night ended early after being collected in an incident just 19 laps shy of the finish. He was scored with a 37th-place finish.
Ryan Blaney won the race.
Take a look below to see how all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers fared at the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season at Daytona.
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 20th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Larson won the pole position for the race at Daytona, but due to inspection issues, was sent to the rear of the field for the start of the race. He moved up to 22nd by lap eight and was scored 24th at the competition caution on lap 20. After pitting for fuel, he restacked in 14th but dropped back to 26th by lap 30.
- Larson made his way back through the field and finished stage one in 16th. He pitted at the stage break, taking four tires and fuel and rejoined the field in 15th. He fell back to 30th by lap 59 but quickly moved to 22nd on lap 64 after being told he no longer needed to save fuel to make it to the end of the stage.
- The 29-year-old driver managed to move to 16th when the caution came out on lap 75. He took his No. 5 Chevrolet to pit road for four fresh tires and set back off from 22nd. He used the draft in the top lane to move inside the top-10, running 10th by lap 86. He would shuffle around in the top-15 before making a final push and finish stage two in fifth.
- Larson pitted at the stage break, taking four fresh tires and fuel and restarted seventh. He dropped to 16th by lap 110 and was scored 17th at the caution on lap 140. He took advantage of the caution and pitted for tires and fuel. He reset in 24th and saw another caution on lap 146 where he was scored 17th.
- Larson elected to stay out and took the green flag from 13th on lap 155. Another caution came on lap 155 and Larson was in seventh. He stayed out again and was collected in the final on-track incident on the final lap, relegating him to 20th-place effort.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 8th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Elliott took the green flag from fifth and made it to third by lap two. However, the draft wasn’t working well in his lane and he fell to 16th by lap 13 but re-entered the top-10 on lap 17, running 10th. By the time the competition caution was brought out on lap 20, Elliott had taken the lead. He made a pit stop under yellow for fuel only and kept the lead. He jockeyed around in the top-five, falling back on lap 42 for debris on his grille, but regained the lead on lap 48 and went on to win the stage.
- Elliott pitted during the stage break, taking tires and fuel and rejoined the field in first. He fell to ninth on lap 60 and saw the second caution on lap 60. Elliott stayed out and reset from 12th. He fell to 18th by lap 87 but regained the lost spots in the remaining laps of the second stage to finish 11th.
- Elliott again pitted at the stage break for tires and fuel. He restacked for the final stage in 11th and breeched the top-10, running eighth on lap 107. He gained the lead two laps later but fell to 13th by lap 119 after losing the draft. He managed to fight his way back into the top-10, running ninth on lap 121 and sixth by lap 132. A caution came out on lap 140 and Elliott had fallen to 15th. He pitted under yellow and rejoined the field in 21st. He made quick work of his new equipment, surging through the field, entering the top-10 on lap 147.
- A caution on lap 147 saw Elliott elect to stay out and reset there. He moved into the lead on lap 155 but was caught in an on-track incident on that lap. He headed to the pits to make repairs and get new tires and fuel. Elliott rejoined in 21st and worked his way to the front, running inside the top 10 before the final on-track incident broke out on the final lap of the race. Elliott was ultimately scored eighth.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 37th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Byron started the event at Florida venue in second and jumped out to a quick lead by lap two. He bounced around in the top-five and was scored fifth at the competition caution on lap 20. He pitted under the yellow conditions and rejoined in 10th. He made his way to sixth by lap 39 but lost the draft and dropped to 19th by lap 39 where he would ultimately finish stage one.
- Byron pitted at the stage break and reset for stage two in 16th. Again, he jockeyed around in the top-15, running 11th by the caution on lap 75. Byron pitted under yellow and rejoined the field in 19th. He put his new tires to use and moved into the top-10 running 10th on lap 93 before finishing stage two in third.
- Byron pitted during the stage break and set back out for the final stretch in first after taking two tires and fuel. He fell to third by lap 110 and continued to fall, running 13th by lap 127. By the time the caution came out on lap 140, Byron was still in 13th and pit under yellow for tires and fuel.
- He returned to competition in 23rd. Another caution came out on lap 146 in which Byron was hit by another competitor, forcing him and the No. 24 team to end their night early. Byron finished 37th.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 7th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bowman started the 400-mile event at Daytona in 15th. He entered the top-10, running ninth, by the end of lap two. He made his way up to fifth by lap four before falling back to ninth on lap 13. When the competition caution came on lap 20, Bowman was scored 15th.
- He took his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet to pit road for four tires and fuel under yellow and rejoined in 24th but quickly fell to 35th by lap 30. Bowman made his way back to 15th by lap 48 before finishing stage one in 13th. Bowman pitted during the stage break, rejoining the field in 17th. He jostled around in the middle of the pack before getting caught in an on-track incident where he received minor damage to the front of his No. 48 Chevy. He pitted under yellow to repair the damaged and reset in 32nd.
- He fought hard and moved to 23rd by lap 87 before finishing stage two in 18th. He pitted at the stage break and reset for the final stage in sixth after taking two tires and fuel. Bowman was scored 10th on lap 114 and made his way to second by lap 119. A caution came on lap 140 and Bowman had fallen to 12th. He took advantage of the yellow to fix the damage again and get four tires and fuel. His long stop relegated him to 28th but, by the next caution on lap 147, Bowman had moved up to 19th.
- He elected to stay out and reset for the final push from 17th. Bowman entered the top-10, running sixth on lap 154. The final caution on lap 155 saw Bowman in 10th. He stayed out and reset there for overtime. On the final lap, a multi-car incident broke out with the racing ending under yellow conditions with Bowman earning a seventh-place finish.