William Byron outlasts late-race action to win 2024 Daytona 500

DAYTONA Ocean side, Fla. – William Byron gave group proprietor Rick Hendrick a bonus to celebrate in the 40th commemoration year of Hendrick Motorsports.

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Enormous wreck clears out a large portion of field in shutting laps of Daytona 500
Enormous wreck clears out the greater part of field in shutting laps of Daytona 500
In a hysterical scramble after a restart on Lap 197 of 200 in the Daytona 500, Byron arrived at the beginning/finish line and took the white banner minutes before NASCAR called the fifth wariness of the night as Ross Chastain slid stunningly through the infield grass off the guard of Austin Cindric’s Passage.

Alex Bowman was a nearby second to his partner right now of watchfulness, giving Hendrick a 1-2 completion and the association’s most memorable triumph in the “Incomparable American Race” since Dale Earnhardt Jr’s. win in 2014. It denoted the principal Hendrick 1-2 in the “Incomparable American Race” since Jimmie Johnson outclassed Earnhardt to the stripe in 2013.

The triumph was Hendrick’s 10th in the Daytona 500, binds the organization with Frivolous Undertakings for most throughout the entire existence of the NASCAR Cup Series most renowned occasion. The race was deferred from Sunday to Monday in view of weighty downpours during the end of the week.

“I’m simply a youngster from dashing on PCs and winning the Daytona 500,” said the 26-year-old Byron, who got the eleventh Cup Series triumph of his vocation and his second at Daytona, the principal coming in the 2020 summer race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

“I can barely handle it. I wish my father was here. He’s debilitated, yet this is for him, man. We’ve experienced so a lot, and we sat up in the grandstands together and watched the race (when Byron was more youthful). This is so cracking cool.”

WATCH: Byron shares feelings following Daytona 500 win | Bowman on next in line finish

Hendrick could scarcely hold back his happiness in Triumph Path.

“I’m telling you, you were unable to compose the content any better,” he said. “At the point when we pondered descending here the initial time, we didn’t figure we ought to be here, felt so awkward.

“We win this on our 40th to the day, it’s simply… and tied a record currently, so that is magnificent.”

Before the last restart, Chastain was dashing at the front of the field on Lap 192 when a knock from Alex Bowman got Hendrick Motorsports colleague William Byron flabby and thumped Byron into the right back of Brad Keselowski’s Passage.

Keselowski transformed up the track into the Passage of Joey Logano, who had driven a race-high 45 laps to that point. Ruling series champion Ryan Blaney’s Passage was among the 23 vehicles engaged with the mishap that left a line of ruined vehicles tossed along the backstretch.

The disaster area thumped Blaney, Keselowski and Logano out of the race, alongside Tyler Reddick, protecting race victor Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez and Todd Gilliland. NASCAR red-hailed the race for 15 minutes 27 seconds for track cleanup.

“Once more, speedway dashing,” Logano said sadly. “It’s loads of fun until this occurs. It was really fascinating, with a great deal of pushing and pushing there toward the end. Our vehicle had the option to take it. Our Horse was so quick. It could lead a line all around well. I sort of thought I had the vehicles I needed around me. I had no less than one I needed around me yet couldn’t make it work.”

“Clearly, disdain what occurred on that backstretch,” Byron said of the mishap. “I just got pushed and got sideways. Yet, so glad for this group, entire Axalta group, 40th commemoration to the day, on Monday.

“Only incredibly honored and grateful for every one of the valuable open doors, and we simply need to push it along. We have a great deal to demonstrate this year, and this is a decent beginning, clearly.”

The amount of Byron possesses yet to demonstrate is far from being obviously true. He won a series-best six races last year, qualified for the Title 4 and completed third in the last standings.

RACE REWIND: Wild completion brings new Daytona 500 victor

The race was not exactly five laps old when an eight-fender bender off Turn 4 began the unavoidable weakening. Contact from Keselowski’s Passage in a firmly packed line of the external thumped John Tracker Nemechek’s Toyota into the middle path and into the side of Harrison Burton’s Portage.

Burton slid toward the infield, gathering the Chevrolet of Sunoco new kid on the block Carson Hocevar. Burton’s No. 21 Bronco shot up the track and banged into the Passage of Kaz Grala and the Chevrolet of Austin Dillon. Behind Dillon, Hocevar tilted into the way of seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, who couldn’t stay away from the crash.

The disaster area wiped out the vehicles of Burton, Hocevar and Grala. Dillon took his No. 3 Chevy to the carport for broad fixes, and Johnson lost two laps on pit street as his Inheritance Engine Club team worked madly to fix his Camry.

“I don’t recollect precisely who it was on my outside,” Burton said after an excursion to the infield care focus. “It just seemed as though they either got a terrible push or got free and just hit me in the right side and sent me across.

“The grass was wet to such an extent that once I got in the grass, I thought I’d be alright, yet the vehicle just kept endlessly going… so truly miserable that our day is over however speedy as it seemed to be. We had a super quick Passage. It’s simply a bummer. There’s nothing we can do except for simply continue on and attempt to win one week from now.”

It took 187 additional laps of hustling before the enormous wreck that overshadowed the prior occurrence diminished the field and set up the battle to the completion among the vehicles that made due.

In a race that highlighted 41 lead changes among 20 drivers, Christopher Chime ran third, trailed by Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger. Chastain, who didn’t have sufficient room when he plunged to within Cindric on the penultimate lap, completed 21st, one spot in front of Cindric.

Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who was at first trapped in the main yellow of the day on Lap 6, completed 28th. Reddick, the 2024 Bluegreen Get-aways Duel 1 champ, completed 29th.

SHOP: Daytona 500 champ gear

Protecting NASCAR Cup Series champion Blaney completed 30th in the wake of being engaged with the 23-vehicle accident.

The Cup Series will go to Atlanta Engine Speedway next for the Ambetter Wellbeing 400 on Feb. 25 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race review in the Cup Series carport at Daytona finished up without issue, affirming Byron as the race victor. Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet and Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota will be sent back to the Research and development Center in Accord, North Carolina, for additional review.