By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (AP) — William Byron fortuitously missed the ferocious wrecks down the stretch at the Daytona 500 that knocked out contenders racing for the checkered flag and left him with a repeat victory in sight.
Still, sitting ninth with one lap left in an overtime finish, the odds seemed against the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet to escape the rest of the race unscathed, or even have enough time to pull off the comeback win.
Thanks to one more crash, Byron used a clean ride on his final lap to escape the chaos and race to his second straight Daytona 500 victory. He dodged a string of late-race wreckage that knocked out a chunk of contenders and sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver into victory lane Sunday night at Daytona International Speedway.
“It’s not all luck to win twice in a row,” Byron said.
Maybe not. But Byron certainly was in the right place by racing near the outside wall in overtime to become the first back-to-back winner since Denny Hamlin in 2019-20.
Byron took advantage of another major mess on the final lap — NASCAR did not drop the caution and let the field race to the finish — and took another, familiar burnout in Daytona International Speedway.
“It’s obviously really special,” Byron said. “It’s an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving.”
The 27-year-old Byron held on to win after two weather delays totaling more than 3 1/2 hours, and with President Donald Trump set to watch the rest of the race in Florida, after he earlier led drivers on two laps around the track in his heavily armored presidential limousine known in Washington as “The Beast.”
Hendrick Motorsports won its 10th Daytona 500 to break a tie with Petty Enterprises for the record.
“Just obviously fortunate it worked out in our favor,” Byron said. “Crazy? Yeah. I can’t honestly believe that but we’re here.”
Byron become the youngest driver to win multiple Daytona 500s, breaking the record held by Jeff Gordon, also in the No. 24. Gordon, a Hall of Famer and four-time NASCAR champion, is now Byron’s boss as vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.
Gordon flashed a thumbs up when told Byron broke his record for youngest two-time winner by four months.
“I hope he breaks them all,” Gordon said. “I’m in full support of that.”
Austin Cindric held the lead headed to the white flag when he was wiped out in crash that took out a slew of drivers that included Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman. It was sixth time in the last eight Daytona 500s the race spilled into overtime, setting up Byron to become the fifth driver to win it in consecutive years.
Byron won for the 14th time in his Cup career, and already set his sights on the championship race in Phoenix after finishing third in the standings in each of the last two years.
“We plan on trying to win a lot of races this year, so we’re not going to stop here,” Byron said. “We’re going to continue to push forward and try to get to Phoenix.
It wouldn’t be Daytona without all the flips, slams and skids down the stretch that inevitably send the race into overtime.
With four laps left, Ryan Preece turned upside-down and essentially did a wheelie in his No. 60 Ford. His car flipped onto its roof and turned back onto its tires before hitting the outside wall. Preece dropped his safety net to signal to crews he was OK.
Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski all had their shots at victory lane spoiled, and the race was red-flagged, just 11 laps after another big one shuffled the field and knocked four former Cup Series champions out of contention.
Reigning NASCAR champion Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse started the multi-car melee when Logano moved to the middle and Stenhouse moved to block him. It stacked up Logano, and the accordion effect sent several cars — including ones belonging to former Cup champs Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott — sliding in every direction.
Busch’s car ended up on a wrecker, extending his skid to 0 for 20 in “The Great American Race.”
Tyler Reddick was second and two-time Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was third. Chase Briscoe was fourth and John Hunter Nemechek fifth.
Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier finished ninth driving for team owner and two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. in JR Motorsports’ Cup debut.
Not bad. Not good enough to beat Byron.
Byron, a self-taught racer who used computer equipment to hone his skills, was left standing one more time as a Daytona winner. Gordon was a three-time Daytona 500 winner and noted he still had the edge over Byron.
“Until next year,” Gordon said.
Leave a legacy
Johnson and Nemechek gave Legacy Motor Club two top-five finishes. A Hall of Fame driver and seven-time NASCAR champion, Johnson is now the majority owner under an offseason restructuring. It was his highest finish in the race since he won it in 2013.
“I have emotions that I didn’t expect to have. I’ve never been in this position as an owner, and it’s really opened up a different set of emotions,” Johnson said after his highest finish in the race since winning in 2013.
Early exit
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and 2017 NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. were among the drivers whose race ended after they were collected in a wreck before the halfway point.
Castroneves made the Daytona 500 under a new rule that allows for a “world-class driver” to receive a provisional spot. He landed a NASCAR ride as part of Trackhouse’s “Project 91,” designed to give renowned racers from outside of the series a shot in a stock car.
Truex, who retired from full-time racing at the end of last season, failed to win the Daytona 500 in 21 tries.
Truex finished 38th and Castroneves 39th.
Up next
The series shifts to Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Daniel Suarez is the defending race winner.
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