HOMESTEAD, Fla. - William Byron led the way for Hendrick Motorsports at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a fourth-place run in the second race of the Round of 8. The result gives the 25-year-old driver a 30-point margin over the projected cutline heading into the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Throughout the 400-mile main event in Miami, the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 showcased excellent short-run speed but struggled on the long run. After taking the lead early in the first stage, Byron fell back to fourth as the field cycled through green-flag pit stops. He would end stage one in this position. Stage two was a similar story but tire conservation during a longer green-flag run allowed for the Charlotte, North Carolina, native to move up to the second position as stage two closed.
Late in the race, several Round of 8 competitors suffered problems, allowing for the No. 24 pit crew to take center stage. During the final pit stop of the event, Byron's crew had a 9.91-second stop to give him the lead from the second position coming to the race's final restart. While he was passed for the lead by eventual race winner Christopher Bell with 16 laps to go, a fourth-place finish sets the team up well for Martinsville next weekend. The finish was the sixth-consecutive top-10 result for the team and the 20th time this season they've taken the checkered flag inside the first 10 spots.
RELATED: See the No. 24 PODS Chevy for Martinsville
"We just didn’t have the turn in our car to go into a run, so we just struggled there to fire off," Byron said after climbing out of his car. "I was doing all I could to air block; move my line around and try to take his air, but it just wasn’t enough. I couldn’t get through the middle well enough to maintain pace."
"Our No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet was really solid all day. We just needed more there at the end, but we had good execution, good pit stops and put ourselves in position to win."
Chase Elliott fought back from a challenging first two segments in the top 15. In the opening two stages, the No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet struggled to maintain pace with the front runners. However, the tides began to turn when the caution came out on lap 214. The break allowed Elliott to utilize the wave around and get back on the lead lap. With another quick yellow following the restart, the No. 9 entry was able to pit for fresh tires, rejoining the rest of the field's strategy. Ultimately, the event resulted in a 15th-place finish for the team.
The No. 9 team remains in the owner championship fight headed into Martinsville next weekend. At 77 points below the elimination line, the team is now in must-win territory to advance. The Alan Gustafson-led team will have their eyes set on another grandfather clock and a ticket to the Championship 4 for the owner's title in Phoenix.
After starting in the 12th position in the No. 48 Ally Chevy, Alex Bowman slid through his pit box under the first cycle of green-flag stops and lost considerable time to the field. For stage two and the beginning portion of the final segment, crew chief Blake Harris continued to work on the balance of the car, looking to find a way back onto the lead lap. After multiple cars utilized the waive around following the lap 214 caution flag, another incident brought the pace car back to the track and allowed Bowman to earn the free pass. By the end of the race, Bowman was able to move into the 19th spot for his first trip to the 1.5-mile track in the Next Gen race car.
RELATED: Hendrick Motorsports pit department to host 'Trunk-or-Treat' on Oct. 26
Despite leading 96 circuits out front, Kyle Larson ended the day in the 34th position. Taking the lead on lap 54, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy cruised to a stage one victory for his eighth stage win of the season (tying Byron for a series-best mark). In stage two, Larson looked to be on a similar trajectory. However, with roughly 10 laps remaining in the second segment, the balance of the race car took an unexpected turn for the worse, resulting in Larson losing two spots and ending the segment in the third position.
While in the runner-up slot under the green flag in the final stage, Larson headed to pit road when the race leader at the time, Ryan Blaney. In an effort to avoid hitting Blaney as the pair were coming to pit road, Larson collided with the sand barrels that sit in front of pit road. The damage would be the end of the race for last year's Miami winner. With their win at last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the No. 5 team and Larson are locked into the Championship 4 on the driver and owner's side.
"I was just trying to push it as much as I could," Larson said of the incident. "He (Ryan Blaney) had a great car and I felt like if he was to come off pit road the leader, he was going to end up winning the race or beating me. I was just trying to maximize my pit-in, and honestly, I felt like I was doing a really good job. I just didn’t anticipate him slowing down as much as he did.
"I’m pretty upset at myself more than anything. Whether he got to pit road speed sooner than the yellow line or not, I could have just done a little bit better job judging it.
"Just a bummer, but we had a great No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy today."
RELATED: Enter now to win Jeff Gordon's 2023 Corvette as annual fundraiser kicks off
Next Sunday, the Cup Series heads to Virginia for the penultimate race of the 2023 season at Martinsville. Catch all of the action from "The Paperclip" on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).