Alex Bowman was a close second to his teammate at the moment of caution, giving Hendrick a 1-2 finish and the organization’s first victory in the “Great American Race” since Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s triumph in 2014. It marked the first Hendrick 1-2 in the “Great American Race” since Jimmie Johnson bested Earnhardt to the stripe in 2013.
The victory was Hendrick’s ninth in the Daytona 500, tying the company with Petty Enterprises for most in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series most prestigious event. The race was postponed from Sunday to Monday because of heavy rains during the weekend.
“I’m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500,” said the 26-year-old Byron, who picked up the 11th Cup Series victory of his career and his second at Daytona, the first coming in the 2020 summer race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
“I can’t believe it. I wish my dad was here. He’s sick, but this is for him, man. We’ve been through so much, and we sat up in the grandstands together and watched the race (when Byron was younger). This is so freaking cool.”
Hendrick could barely contain his elation in Victory Lane.
“I’m telling you, you couldn’t write the script any better,” he said. “When we thought about coming down here the first time, we didn’t think we should be here, felt so out of place.
“We win this on our 40th to the day, it’s just… and tied a record now, so that’s awesome.”
Before the final restart, Chastain was racing at the front of the field on Lap 192 when a bump from Alex Bowman got Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron out of shape and knocked Byron into the right rear of Brad Keselowski’s Ford.
Keselowski turned up the track into the Ford of Joey Logano, who had led a race-high 45 laps to that point. Reigning series champion Ryan Blaney’s Ford was among the 23 cars involved in the accident that left a string of mangled vehicles strewn along the backstret
William Byron emerged as the victorious driver in the Daytona 500 race of 2024, showcasing resilience amidst a flurry of late-race action. The intense competition was marred by a significant incident involving Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, resulting in a 23-car pileup that left a trail of severely damaged vehicles along the backstretch. Byron’s triumph in this prestigious event solidifies his position as a formidable force in the racing world.
The wreck knocked Blaney, Keselowski and Logano out of the race, along with Tyler Reddick, defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez and Todd Gilliland. NASCAR red-flagged the race for 15 minutes 27 seconds for track cleanup.
“Speedway racing again,” Logano said ruefully. “It’s a lot of fun until this happens. It was pretty interesting, with a lot of pushing and shoving there at the end. Our car was able to take it. Our Mustang was so fast. It could lead a line really well. I kind of thought I had the cars I wanted around me. I had at least one I wanted around me but just couldn’t make it work.”
“Obviously, hate what happened on that backstretch,” Byron said of the accident. “I just got pushed and got sideways. But so proud of this team, whole Axalta team, 40th anniversary to the day, on Monday.
“Just extremely blessed and thankful for all the opportunities, and we just want to keep it going. We have a lot to prove this year, and this is a good start, obviously.”
How much Byron has yet to prove is debatable. He won a series-best six races last year, qualified for the Championship 4 and finished third in the final standings.
William Byron wins Daytona 500
The race is deemed official. This is Byron’s 11th career win. He’s the sixth different Hendrick Motorsports driver to win the race.
Unofficial race results:
- William Byron
- Alex Bowman
- Christopher Bell
- Corey LaJoie
