William Byron recaps 'crazy night' in rainy Quaker State 400
When you win, you take it. William Byron is making no apologies for his wild Quaker State 400 win or the way he earned it. You never look a gift horse in the mouth and you never complain about a win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Byron was excited to recap his night after the win.
Hendrick Motorsports did not have the best day. While at times, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and Byron all ran in the top 10, Chase Elliott couldn’t keep up. Larson was wrecked out of the race after a tire blew up and destroyed his fender. Bowman spun out late. Elliott struggled to find pace. Byron overcame it all.
Even with spinning out, taking a pit stop when they weren’t sure they should, and the field flip at the end of Stage 2 – William Byron was there to handle it all. He came out on the other side of it with a win, too.
“Just teamwork,” Byron said after the race to NBC. “Honestly, I don’t completely understand this one, it’s just a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this but just thanks to Axalt, Chevrolet. It’s cool man we were in so much throughout the night, spinning through the infield, destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap.
“At that point you just don’t have the grip so I was real edgy back in traffic but Rudy made a good call to pit there and then stay out and once we got towards the front it was okay. We could honestly make the right decisions, block okay, and got the lead from AJ and was able to manage the runs. So, just a crazy night.”
While there are surely drivers that were upset about the way things ended, William Byron is not one of them.
William Byron wins rain-shortened event in Atlanta
For his fourth win of the season, the 24 had to play his cards right. This race was fantastic from the jump. The strong Ford group made a wall in the top-5 that didn’t feel like it would be broken up. Ryan Blaney won the first stage while pole winner Aric Almirola did his best to stay up front.
At the end of Stage 2, it was Brad Keselowski who made it to the front. His team had to decide whether or not to pit at the end of Stage 2 due to fuel versus the encroaching weather. Ultimately, the No. 6 team came in for fuel and would lose track position. While he surged back to a P6 finish, it makes you wonder what-if?
As the Stage 2 break came to an end 11 cars stayed out on the track instead of heading to pit road. That led to an AJ Allmendinger lead to start the final stage. It was a strong showing from Allmendinger, but William Byron came up on him fast. Right behind Byron was Daniel Suárez, ready to pounce on Byron as soon as he could.
After taking the lead, Byron had to fight off the 99. He delivered some light blocks and kept his No. 24 Chevy in the lead. A caution flag brought on by Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece would bring the cars to a slow pace. Finally, the red flag was thrown as rain came down and after that, Byron was declared the winner.