With practice and qualifying Saturday, William Byron showed speed on the long run but ultimately secured a 25th-place starting position for Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, when the green-flag flew for the 267-lap event, Byron wasted no time making up track position in his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, cracking the top 15 after only 15 laps. Byron continued his march to the front, reaching 11th before crew chief Rudy Fugle called him down pit road under green on lap 33 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Once the green-flag pit stop cycle was complete the Charlotte, North Carolina, native was running seventh as the caution came out on lap 47. Byron told his team that his Chevy was just too tight, so he came down pit road under the yellow for four tires, fuel and both a chassis and air pressure adjustment. With some cars electing not to pit, Byron lined up in 11th for the restart on lap 53 but moved his way up to sixth when the field went green. As the laps continued to wind down in the opening stage, Byron continued to fight the handling of his No. 24, dropping to eighth at the stage one end. Under the stage break, he came down pit road for four tires, fuel and both a chassis and air pressure adjustment once again.
Lining up in 10th for the start of stage two, Byron did his best to work through traffic, reaching eighth before relaying that he was “lacking front grip.” Fugle called his driver down pit road under green on lap 115 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustment to try aid in his handling. With varying pit strategy taking place, Byron eventually reached the fourth position once the green-flag cycle was complete. However, as the stage went on, those who pitted later in the cycle began to catch Byron, dropping him to seventh with 14 laps to go. Doing his best to shift his line on track to help his handling, the 26-year-old driver was able to ultimately pick up the sixth position just before the second stage ended with him scored in sixth. Under the stage break, Byron came down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
Electing to restart in the low lane, Byron lined up in fifth for the final stage of Sunday’s race. As he went to make the pass to take over fourth, the driver of the No. 24 lost his momentum and slipped back to eighth. Able to compose himself, Byron set his sights on moving forward again, securing seventh position before the caution was displayed again. Still fighting a tight No. 24 Chevy, Byron came down pit road under the yellow for four tires, fuel and another substantial air pressure adjustment. Electing to take the top lane on the restart, Byron lined up in 10th with 76 laps to go at the 1.5-mile oval. He was able to get a great run though and propelled himself to sixth and eventually fifth as the laps wound down. After a few more laps back green, Byron radioed that the last set of adjustments helped but that he needed more for the long run as he slipped to seventh. Doing his best to manage tires on the run, Fugle finally called his driver down pit road under green on lap 220 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to kick off the green-flag pit stop cycle. While some elected to run long again, Byron was ultimately scored fifth once the pit stop cycle was completed just before the caution came out with 12 laps to go. Fugle called his driver down pit road one final time for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment before lining up in fifth with seven laps remaining. Byron was engrossed in a tough battle to the finish, ultimately crossing the finish line in sixth – his fifth consecutive top-10 finish.
Chase Elliott led the Hendrick Motorsports quartet to the finish line Sunday, scoring a fifth-place finish. Byron was close behind in the sixth position and Alex Bowman in seventh. Kyle Larson scored a 13th-place finish after suffering a late race spin.
On the last stop of the race, your team elected to pit first out of the playoff drivers. Was that the right move?
William Byron: “I don’t think it really mattered. We kind of had what we had today. We weren’t good enough, and we were just trying to get all we could. I feel like a sixth-place finish is good. If it had gone green there, we were going to end up top-five. I don’t know how that changes the points, but we just have to go to Martinsville Speedway and compete for a win.”
Is Martinsville Speedway a place where you think you can get the job done?
“Absolutely. We did it in the spring, so we should be able to.”
One race.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 27, 2024
One last opportunity to make the #Championship4. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/glWhEDU3G9