By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron won his second Daytona 500 on Sunday night. He needed a little luck to get the win at the historic Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Fans had to wait two hours before the bulk of the race took place as rain delayed the first part of the race. There was a two-hour delay before racing began with the second part of the race around 5:30 pm EST.
Byron also won the 2024 Daytona 500. He is the fifth driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s.
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This is Hendrick Motorsports 10th Daytona 500. They were previously in a tie with Petty Enterprises, who had nine.
The Charlotte, North Carolina native escaped from the chaos on the final corner of the final lap. Byron and Tyler Reddick were the only two drivers who got past the cars crashing on the final few feet of the final lap.
As cars were crashing, NASCAR decided not to throw a caution. Instead, they let Byron and Reddick battle it out for the historic win.
He barely escaped from being hit as Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, and others crashed.
“Some good fortune, but just trusting my instinct on the last lap there, I felt like they were getting squirrelly on the bottom and just tried to… I was honestly going to go the third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back,” Byron said. “So, just obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor, but just proud of this team.
“Worked super hard all week and had an amazing car. Just had a really hard time with the fuel savings and kind of staying towards the front. So, crazy. Yeah, I mean, I can’t honestly believe that, but we’re here, so proud of it.”
The Axalta driver went from ninth to first on the final lap of the race.
“It’s obviously really special,” he said. “It’s an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving. But just really proud of our team. I can’t stress that enough. I’m just super thankful for this group and everything that they do in the off-season to get prepared.
“We plan on trying to win a lot of races this year, so we’re not going to stop here. We’re going to continue to push forward and try to get to Phoenix.”
Byron now has 14 NASCAR Cup Series wins. He has won at least one race dating back to the 2020 season.
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“Emotionally, because I’m a part of it, so I’m happy,” Jeff Gordon said in the media center after Byron’s win. “I love to see the 24 team continue to have success, and Hendrick Motorsports in general. But I think it’s more special because I’ve gotten to know William, and he’s just a good guy, and like this is a dream come true for him.
“It’s been a pretty fast rise to get here, but it hasn’t come without a lot of hard work. And he puts in the work, and there’s nobody more appreciative of it, as well. Yeah, no, I’m just proud of him. I know the fans that I get to interact with, there was a time when they were sad that I was not in there, and I can see their excitement now that that legacy continues because of what William and the team are doing. Yeah, it’s great.”
Manufacturer Ford had won six of the last eight Daytona 500s before Byron won on Sunday night. Byron drove a Chevrolet to Victory Lane.
The first Ford driver was Ryan Blaney, as Menards/PEAK driver, who finished seventh.
Nasty Beast-sponsored driver Tyler Reddick finished second. This was the Corning, California’s 39th Top 5 of his career.
It was Reddick’s first Top 5 since Homestead last year when he drove The Beast Killer Sunrise-sponsored entry to Victory Lane.
“With that restart with 15 to go, we kind of checked up in the middle and ended up further back than we wanted to be,” Reddick said. “We didn’t really want to, we ducked out of it hoping for the caution. We got it. But we were still lined up 16th there on the green-white-checkered. When they started to spin on the dogleg, I kind of jumped out of line thinking that was going to be it, and we just kept going.
“I knew that me and the 24 had a good run and they were throwing big blocks, and when they started spinning on the inside and I had a run on the 24, I thought, man, if I can just make it through on the 11 and not scrub my speed, I would have had at least an opportunity to do something. All in all, I never really finished a race here unless it was 40 laps down, so I’ll take second. We wanted to get a good start to the year, and we scored a lot of points today. So I’m really happy with everyone’s effort on this 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry.”
Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time Cup Series champion, finished third. The El Cajon, California native — who is now the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club — had his best finish in the Next Gen car.
This was Johnson’s 233rd Top 5 of his career. This was his first Top 5 since he finished fifth in the Ally/#OneFinalTime entry at the 2020 season finale 500 on November 8th, 2020, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
It was Johnson’s first Top 3 finish since the Drydene 311 Race 2 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware on Sunday, August 23rd, 2020.
“This feels incredible,” Johnson said. “I have emotions that I didn’t expect to have. I’ve never been in this position as an owner, and it’s opened up a different set of emotions. And the pride that I have in this result and the pride that I have in this company, now that we’re trying to achieve and the journey we’re on, I am so satisfied, so happy right now.
“Excited that we have two cars in the top 5. I hope Shaq is watching. Thank you, buddy. We got your car in the top 3. A big thanks to Carvana and their continued support, Mobil 1, AdventHealth, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree. It’s been an interesting couple of years and to have our cars come out and be this strong, this Toyota was rocketship fast. I’m just smiling inside and out.”
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