William Byron Wins the Daytona 500

William Byron won the 66th Daytona 500 under caution after a crash occurred just after the white flag was displayed.

Byron was second to Ross Chastain on the final restart with four laps to go. Holding the inside line, Byron cleared the outside line and was leading coming to the white flag. Chastain made a move underneath Byron just as the cars were coming to the line. However, he was clipped by Austin Cindric, sending both cars spinning.

The crash resulted in a caution being called after Byron crossed the start/finish line in the lead. Byron was the leader at the time of the caution, and was declared the winner.

A Long Time Coming

This win marks the 11th and biggest victory of his career, as Byron will be locked into NASCAR immortality as a Daytona 500 champion.

Byron winning also marks the first time Hendrick Motorsports has won the 500 since 2014, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his second Daytona 500 victory. It also puts the No. 24 back in Daytona 500 victory lane for the first time since Jeff Gordon won in 2005.

Close Calls and Missed Opportunities

Alex Bowman finished second, making it a one-two finish for Hendrick. After the Chastain-Cindric incident, Bowman made a move to the outside of Byron to take the lead. However, the caution came out before Bowman got ahead of Byron, keeping the No. 48 car in second.

The race went incident free for much of the 500 miles, barring a minor incident triggered by Brad Keselowski on lap six. However, a massive crash occurred with just under ten laps remaining, taking out many of the top contenders.

After getting a push from Bowman down the back straight, Byron lost control and clipped Keselowski’s right rear. Keselowski, who was making a move on Chastain for the lead, spun back into the pack, collecting Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and many others.

Byron managed to regain control of his car, giving him the opportunity to get the win.

Outlook

This year’s Daytona 500 was originally scheduled to be run on Sunday, but rain forced NASCAR to postpone it until Monday. Considering this year’s 500 features the largest purse in motorsports history, it was surely worth the wait for Hendrick Motorsports.

NASCAR is back in action this Sunday in Atlanta, as the 2024 season begins to kick into gear.

Image courtesy of NASCAR.com

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