William Byron Dominates Much of Darlington NASCAR Cup Race, Fails to Seal the Deal
Through three quarters of the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, Willim Byron was untouchable, leading the first 243 laps in the scheduled 293-lap race.
With 50 laps remaining, Byron possessed a 4.965-second lead over eventual winner Denny Hamlin, but he still had to make his final pit stop.
Byron pitted with 49 laps remaining, received four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment on his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and returned to the track in 12th. With fresh tires, Byron quickly moved through the field and with 37 laps remaining had taken over third. However, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native wasn't able to advance any further and had actually fallen for fourth behind Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Hamlin, respectively, with five laps remaining.
When the eighth and final caution flag waved on lap 290, Byron had one last shot at victory. He had the first pit stall on pit road due to earning the pole, which meant he didn't have to go that far to get off pit road first and claim the No. 1 position. However, Hamlin's Joe Gibb Racing's crew sub-10-second stop left him third behind Hamlin and Reddick, respectively.
For the restart, Hamlin took the outside, Reddick the inside and Byron lined up behind Hamlin. Reddick faltered and Hamlin jumped into the lead. Byron couldn't catch Hamlin.
'We just needed control of the race there under green and we lost that with the pit sequence,' Byron said. 'We lost a few spots under the green flag sequence, and that was the difference. The No. 20 (Christopher Bell) did a good job kind of air blocking and just keeping us behind him. It stings to be this close.'
The 44-year-old Hamlin knowns how Byron feels to dominate an event and then have the victory slip through one's grasp.
'I think at Richmond I led all but 13 laps and had a flat tire at the end,' Hamlin recalled. 'I get how it feels. It sucks. Only I finished 20-something that day. It's painful.'
1. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 297.
2. (1) William Byron, Chevrolet, 297.
3. (17) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 297.
4. (7) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 297.
5. (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 297.
6. (14) Chris Buescher, Ford, 297.
7. (25) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 297.
8. (15) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 297.
9. (11) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 297.
10. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 297.
11. (6) Austin Cindric, Ford, 297.
12. (16) Zane Smith, Ford, 297.
13. (18) Joey Logano, Ford, 297.
14. (12) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 297.
15. (30) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 297.
16. (29) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 297.
17. (34) Erik Jones, Toyota, 297.
18. (22) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 297.
19. (26) Noah Gragson, Ford, 297.
20. (36) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 297.
21. (5) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 297.
22. (31) Cole Custer, Ford, 297.
23. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 297.
24. (21) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 297.
25. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 297.
26. (2) Ryan Preece, Ford, 297.
27. (35) Cody Ware, Ford, 297.
28. (4) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 297.
29. (10) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 297.
30. (27) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 297.
31. (37) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 296.
32. (13) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 296.
33. (20) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 295.
34. (32) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 295.
35. (33) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 280.
36. (24) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 194.
37. (19) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Suspension, 122.
38. (38) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Brakes, 30.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 120.965 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory:.597 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 45 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: W. Byron 1-243;D. Hamlin 244-247;T. Reddick 248-289;R. Blaney 290-291;D. Hamlin 292-297.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): William Byron 1 time for 243 laps; Tyler Reddick 1 time for 42 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 10 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,23,60,17,45,6,12,2,38,16
Stage #2 Top Ten: 24,22,11,12,21,20,54,10,45,48
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