By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron is the first back-to-back winner of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The Valvoline driver won the United Rentals World United 500 on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
Byron also win the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday. With this win, Chevrolet has won four straight races to win the season.
“When I first started out it was a lot of pressure going into my rookie year not having any Cup starts,” Byron said. “I don’t think you really understand the magnitude of that shift. Everyone prepares you for it, going from Xfinity to Cup. But the level that this is, it’s so different. So many details that go into it. So that was a lot of pressure, but once we got a win under our belt and once we got some consistency going, you stop thinking about that.”
Plus, Byron has won both races from a Top 3 starting position. He won the Las Vegas race after starting from the No. 2 pole position.
Before Byron, Busch won in Fontana after starting the race from the 21st position. Then, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 after starting 31st.
Roger Penske driver Ryan Blaney finished second in the Dent Wizard entry. 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick rounded out the Top 3 in his The Beast Unleashed entry.
HendrickCars.com driver Kyle Larson dominated the race with 201 laps led of the 317 laps. But finished fourth in his Hendrick Motorsports entry.
“William was just doing a really good job launching every time he was on the front row with me,” Larson said. “He did another good job, and I thought I ran in deep enough to at least have position on him. He obviously ran in deeper than me and was able to roll more center corner speed. I know they didn’t technically spray resin down there, but it still hangs around even years after spraying it.
“It finally came in there with 50 to go, so I knew the outside lane was going to be tough to hold off.”
Stewart Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick finished fifth in his Hunt Brothers Pizza entry.
