By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Hendrick Motorsports has kicked off its 40th year with the biggest race win of the season. William Byron won the historic Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday night in Daytona Beach, Florida.
According to the video, following a crash, the Axalta driver beat his Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman to get the win. Byron, who is originally from Virginia, won by 0.006 seconds. He won the event under caution.
“No one told me,” Byron said. “Rudy (Fugle) was crying on the radio, and I was like, dude — I hope he’s crying for a good reason. But I guess he was. He was a ball of emotion there. I was still like, did we actually win or not, and then I think Branden came on the radio and said that we were first or whatever. It still hasn’t sunk in yet, so I feel like it’s just kind of a blur, and I feel like there’s just so many things that have to go your way to win a race like this.
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“It’s special. This is the biggest race. Stuff happens so fast. It’s honestly a chess game that you’re just trying to play, and I feel like we were able to come out on top.”
Owner Rick Hendrick admitted in the media center that Byron may have a chip on his shoulder.
“Absolutely,” he said. “He won more races than anyone last year, and I think this guy right here helps him with the chip (indicating Rudy). But I like the way he’s approaching this year. He’s done a lot in the short time he’s been in the sport, so winning the Daytona 500 now, that’s something that he’ll always carry with him.
“It’s exciting to see and think about the future with he and Rudy together because he’s just done an awesome job everywhere.”
It was the first time in 10 years that Hendrick Motorsports won the biggest race of the year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the last Hendrick Motorsports driver to win the Daytona 500 in 2014.
Like this year’s event, which was pushed back a day, the 2014 event was pushed back several hours due to rain. This was Earnhardt’s second Daytona 500 win.
Byron is the sixth different Daytona 500 winner for Hendrick Motorsports. Before Monday, he had not finished better than 21st in the Daytona 500.
Ally driver Bowman had his best finish in the Daytona 500 with a second-place finish. DeWalt-Interstate Batteries sponsored driver Christopher Bell finished third.
Chili’s Catch-A-Rita sponsored driver Corey LaJoie had his best finish, with fourth place. Rounding out the Top 5 was Celsius-sponsored driver A.J. Allmendinger, who finished fifth.
According to driveraverages.com, this is Byron’s second win at Daytona. However, it is his first Daytona 500 win.
This was his 13th Daytona start. His previous finish was 24.7.
According to the site, Bowman picked up his second Daytona Top 5 in 17 starts. His previous linear finish was fifth and he had an average finish of 16.1.
Bell tied his career-best Daytona finish with the third-place finish. He has two Top 5 finishes in 9 career races at the venue.
Despite the two Top 5 finishes, he had an average finish of 21.4.
This was LaJoie’s first Top 5 at Daytona in 15 career races, according to driveraverages.com. His previous best finish at Daytona was sixth.
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He previously had an average finish of 18.1 at the venue.
This was Allmendinger’s fourth Top 5 in 22 races at Daytona. His career best is third.
Despite his four Top 5’s, he has an average finish at Daytona at 20.1.
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