William Byron escaped a last-lap crash in overtime to become just the fifth driver in history to capture consecutive Daytona 500 victories.
Byron, who climbed from ninth to first on the final lap, is the youngest driver to win multiple Daytona 500s, breaking the record held by former Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 driver Jeff Gordon. Byron now has three Cup Series wins at Daytona International Speedway after taking the checkered flag in the August 2020 race in addition to the 2024 Daytona 500.
“Obviously some good fortune, but just trusting my instinct on the last lap there,” Byron said after his win, which gave Hendrick Motorsports its 10th triumph in the Daytona 500. “I felt like they were getting squirrely on the bottom. I was honestly going to go third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back. Obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor, but just really proud of this team — worked super hard all week and had an amazing car. … Crazy. I can’t honestly believe that, but we’re here. Proud of it.”
Byron joined Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin and Denny Hamlin as the only drivers to repeat at the “Great American Race.” The No. 24 driver now has 14 wins in his Cup Series career.
“It’s obviously really special,” Byron said. “It’s an amazing race. … I’m just super thankful for this group and everything that they do in the offseason 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 get to Phoenix.”