Cup Series: William Byron wins back-to-back Daytona 500s

4 days ago5 min read

Written by Sean McKean

Credit - Zach Sturniolo / NASCAR Digital Media

Despite all calamity happening behind him, it was William Byron who won the season-opening Daytona 500. It was his second in a row in the Great American Race.

As it unfolded

Chase Briscoe got off to a strong start from pole, but the Chevrolets worked together to get defending Daytona 500 winner William Byron into the lead. In the back, Carson Hocevar dropped out of the draft with a suspected fuel pump issue.

As the field formed up three-by-three behind him in an attempt to make a charge to the lead, the caution came for weather on Lap 10. This eventually turned into a red flag for rain, which lasted three hours.

Once the caution flag was drawn again at 5:30 local, most drivers elected to take fuel only on the pit cycles. Only a few drivers stayed out.

This was short-lived, though, as the edge of a weather system from the South hit the track on Lap 20. Critically, the drivers remained in their cars.

Joey Logano led the way on the subsequent Lap 24 restart about 30 minutes later. Logano took the outside lead whilst Byron stayed to the inside.

With help from Logano, part-timer Corey Lajoie saw time in the lead on Lap 30. He stayed there for four laps.

On Lap 45, Kaulig’s AJ Allmendinger became the first retirement of the race – going behind the wall with a mechanical problem.

Lap 63 saw the first caution for cause. In Turn 2, Denny Hamlin got hooked by Zane Smith and went for a spin. In avoidance, Smith locked the rear tyres, subsequently spinning up the banking and into Josh Berry. This incident terminally damaged the axle on Smith’s FRM vehicle and hindered the body on Berry’s WBR car.

This crash ended the stage under caution. Joey Logano took the stage win followed by Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney.

Stage 1 Results:

No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)
No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)
No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)
No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)
No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

The top three remained the same out of pit road.

The start of Stage 2 on Lap 71 saw another crash occur. From the lead, Logano’s engine faced an issue which caused him to lose pace. This caused a chain reaction that saw Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Riley Herbst, Martin Truex Jr. and Helio Castroneves face damage. Of those involved, Castroneves, Chastain and Truex retired from the race.

Only a handful of drivers came into the pits. Shane van Gisbergen was the first one out. Joey Logano’s crew also kept trying to fix the engine issue during this time.

Blaney took the lead on the Lap 77 restart with a push from Chris Buescher behind. This was short-lived, though, as Austin Cindric took the lead with help from Noah Gragson.

The caution came back out on Lap 82 – this time for debris. A few drivers took to the pits, notably Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe. Also, Logano’s crew finally fixed the issue with their car, and the caution meant that they got the lap they lost back.

Cindric remained leader as he took the green on Lap 87.

They remained orderly until the end of Stage 2 on Lap 130. Ryan Blaney took the win from teammate Cindric followed by Chase Elliott behind.

Stage 2 Results:

No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports)
No. 17 - Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)
No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club)
No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)
No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing)

The green flag came out soon thereafter on Lap 136. Bubba Wallace took to the point and quickly assumed the lead. It didn’t remain that way, as the pack fanned out three-by-three.

The field remained calm until Lap 162, when a game-changing caution came out for debris. This opened up the fuel window for everyone to make it to the end.

On pit road, Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace retained the front row.

The green flag came back out on Lap 166. With a push from Blaney, Cindric got out to a decisive lead out front.

It took a number of laps, but the high line finally started to form with 15 laps to go.

However, a crash that took out big contenders occurred here too. Coming off Turn 2, Ricky Stenhouse went to block the run from Logano, but both ran out of a room. This started a chain reaction crash that collected Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson. Of those involved, Logano, Busch and Blaney retired from the race.

Corey Lajoie led the field back to the green flag with eight laps. However, Austin Cindric went to the point and left Lajoie out to dry.

The pushes became too much for Christopher Bell, as he got turned in front of the field. He collected Ryan Preece, who took air time on the front part of the car before ultimately blowing over upside down. He slid for a quarter of the straight before hitting the Turn 3 wall and rolling back over. Everyone walked away unscathed. The red flag was thrown for this incident.

The drivers out of the race from this crash were Bell, Preece and Kyle Larson.

The overtime restart was led by Denny Hamlin and Austin Cindric. They hooked up well down the back stretch, but as they took the white flag, they got disorganised. This culminated in a big crash on the back stretch the next time around, which saw William Byron take the chequered flag first.

Provisional Results: