William Byron received the Daytona 500 underneath warning after Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric crashed because the white flag flew.
Byron acquired previous Chastain with lower than three laps to go and was in entrance because the wreck occurred. Although the crash began earlier than the ultimate lap formally started, the warning got here out after Byron had began his remaining lap.
Chastain was making a transfer on the excessive facet as Cindric was in second forward of Corey LaJoie when their contact occurred. Cindric appeared to get free and transfer up the monitor as Chastain moved all the way down to make a move for the lead.
The sphere that Byron beat to the end line was thinned immensely due to a 22-car crash with lower than 9 laps to go. It began when Byron tagged Brad Keselowski as each drivers have been within the prime 5. The crash took out a bunch of contenders for the win behind race chief Chastain.
The crash began as Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman was pushing him to the entrance. Byron acquired free off Bowman’s bumper and acquired into the left rear of Keselowski’s automotive. That despatched Keselowski into Joey Logano and picked up a bunch of drivers together with Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., 2023 Cup Collection champion Ryan Blaney and others.
Simply take a look at how shut Keselowski got here to hitting the again of Chastain’s automotive.
Bowman went on to complete second behind Byron. Christopher Bell was unofficially scored in third forward of LaJoie and Bubba Wallace.
Byron is the sixth Daytona 500 winner for Hendrick Motorsports
Byron, 26, joined Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip and Geoffrey Bodine as Daytona 500 winners for Hendrick Motorsports on Monday. His win is the primary for the storied staff since Junior received his second Daytona 500 in rain-delayed vogue in 2014.
Monday’s race was postponed as nicely. It started over 24 hours after it was initially scheduled to start out due to persistent rain at Daytona Worldwide Speedway.
Byron’s victory additionally ties Hendrick with Petty Enterprises because the staff with essentially the most Daytona 500 victories. Petty Enterprises received 9 Daytona 500s from 1959-1981. Hendrick now has 9 after Bodine turned the staff’s first Daytona 500 winner in 1986.
The victory locks Byron into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Collection playoffs as he chases his first Cup Collection title. Byron was the winningest driver within the Cup Collection a season in the past as he received six races and scored 15 prime fives throughout 36 races. He finally completed third within the Cup Collection factors standings after he was bested by each Blaney and teammate Kyle Larson within the season finale.
Byron must be one of many drivers to beat for the Cup Collection title as soon as once more this season.
Why Byron received underneath warning
Had the warning come out earlier than Byron had crossed the beginning/end line, NASCAR would have continued the race past the scheduled 200 laps for a two-lap restart. Nevertheless, since Byron had already began the two hundredth lap of the race, NASCAR guidelines say the race is over when a warning is named on the ultimate lap.
Should you have been a bit confused about how Byron received, nevertheless, you are not alone. Fox did not present a transparent replay on the time the warning got here out. Bowman had a run on Byron due to the crash and handed him as NASCAR race management referred to as the warning. There is not any purpose to imagine that Bowman was forward of Byron on the time of the warning and that NASCAR officers made the flawed name.
However a transparent shot of the place the sphere was on the monitor on the time of the warning would have gone an extended method to informing viewers of how shut the end truly was.
Fox’s sales space seemed to be confused in regards to the end as nicely. The ultimate moments of the race broadcast name have been very flat, as Mike Pleasure, Kevin Harvick — making his debut as a full-time analyst — and Clint Bowyer have been instantly uncertain of who received the race. Having Harvick and Bowyer stroll by means of a frame-by-frame evaluation of the second of warning would have been an academic second for viewers.
As a substitute, for those who have been watching on tv, you had no concept how shut the end truly was. Fox signed off minutes after the race was conclusion to get to an episode of “America’s Most Needed.” Fox Sports activities 1 did not have any post-race protection and was as an alternative exhibiting taped poker.
It took practically an hour for NASCAR to put up an image of the successful margin for the time being of warning to social media.
Early crash ruins a number of drivers’ possibilities to win
The vast majority of the Daytona 500 was incident-free. There have been no crashes in between the 2 wrecks within the remaining 10 laps of the race and a crash that occurred on the fifth lap of the race.
Seven drivers have been concerned within the early wreck, together with seven-time Cup Collection champion Jimmie Johnson. He was behind the crash earlier than he was collected in it as he bumped into Carson Hocevar’s spinning automotive.
Johnson spent the remainder of the race using round a number of laps down as he runs a part-time schedule in NASCAR for the second straight season. Monday, Johnson turned the primary NASCAR Corridor of Famer to race within the Daytona 500 as a member of the Corridor. He was inducted earlier this yr together with longtime crew chief Chad Knaus. Johnson and Knaus received all seven of their championships collectively.
Unofficial outcomes
1. William Byron
2. Alex Bowman
3. Christopher Bell
4. Corey LaJoie
5. Bubba Wallace
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. John Hunter Nemechek
8. Erik Jones
9. Noah Gragson
10. Chase Briscoe
11. Kyle Larson
12. Kyle Busch
13. Zane Smith
14. Chase Elliott
15. Martin Truex Jr.
16. Daniel Hemric
17. Ty Gibbs
18. Chris Buescher
19. Denny Hamlin
20. David Ragan
21. Ross Chastain
22. Austin Cindric
23. Ryan Preece
24. Riley Herbst
25. Josh Berry
26. Justin Haley
27. Anthony Alfredo
28. Jimmie Johnson
29. Tyler Reddick
30. Ryan Blaney
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
32. Joey Logano
33. Brad Keselowski
34. Daniel Suarez
35. Todd Gilliland
36. Michael McDowell
37. Austin Dillon
38. Kaz Grala
39. Harrison Burton
40. Carson Hocevar
