CONCORD, N.C. -- William Byron celebrated in victory lane Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway after he earned his first Cup Series win in the final race of the regular season.
With the victory, Byron clinched a berth in the playoffs. It was a full-circle moment for the 22-year-old, who was in victory lane in February at Daytona after he won the the second non-points-paying Duel race.
"I had confidence in (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and the guys that we could get four tires and make the most of it," Byron said of trying to win after his last pit stop. "I’m just extremely blessed and this is incredible. It’s been a hard couple of years in the Cup Series and trying to get my first win and gel with this team. These guys did an awesome job today and got us in the playoffs and it’s amazing.”
Teammate Chase Elliott took advantage of the two huge accidents in the final laps and finished right behind Byron in second place. Alex Bowman also finished inside the top 10 in seventh place. Jimmie Johnson was caught up in the final accident of the race and placed 17th, which knocked him out of the playoffs.
Take a look below to see how Saturday's race at Daytona played out for the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 2nd
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Elliott started in 27th and was up a spot to 26th by the eighth lap. He fell to 28th by lap 10 but rallied to 17th six laps later. He was in 19th at the competition caution.
- At the restart, Elliott was in 20th. He surged to 16th by lap 26 and was in eighth by the 35th lap. Two laps later, Elliott was down to 11th. He finished Stage 1 in 15th.
- Elliott headed to pit road between stages and restarted in 11th. He surged to sixth on lap 57 and was riding behind teammate Alex Bowman. Elliott stopped on pit road and was riding in 28th by lap 68.
- He started working through the field with 10 to go in the second stage and was in 22nd by lap 41. With three laps left in Stage 2, Elliott moved up to 13th, which is how he ended the segment.
- He restarted for Stage 3 in the same position but slipped back to 18th by the first turn. He made a huge push and was in ninth by lap 109. Elliott started picking off the field and soon was in fourth behind teammate Jimmie Johnson.
- Elliott was all the way up to second by lap 120. Six laps later, Elliott pitted for fuel and came back out in 30th. Elliott moved all the way up to 11th after another round of cars headed to pit road.
- A caution came out with 17 laps to go and Elliott was in seventh. He restarted in 10th but tumbled to 16th with 10 laps to go. Elliott moved into sixth when the first red flag dropped with eight laps to go.
- He restarted in fifth and fell to eighth when the second massive accident occurred with two to go. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE pushed behind teammate William Byron for the last two laps of overtime and finished in second.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 1st
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Byron rolled off the grid in sixth. Within the first four laps he shifted into second and three laps later he was cruising in first place, where he remained until the competition caution.
- After taking a splash of fuel, Byron restarted in first. He stayed in that position until lap 30 when the upper lane was shifted back and was in seventh. He moved to the bottom lane and was in first three laps later.
- Byron fell to third two laps later and was down to 10th on lap 40. He moved up to ninth with six laps left in Stage 1. He crept up a little further to finish the stage in seventh.
- Byron kicked off Stage 2 in sixth after he stopped on pit road for tires. He fell back to 22nd as he tried to ride along the inside lane to get ahead. By lap 61, he was in 26th.
- The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE dropped to 34th after he decided to pit several laps into the second stage. With eight to go in the second stage, Byron was in 27th. He made the move up the field and was in 12th with two laps left and finished the stage in that spot.
- Byron started the final stage in 28th. Sixteen laps later he was in sixth and he moved into fourth place by lap 121. Five laps later, Byron got some fuel and was in 21st by lap 127.
- He picked off the field and was in third on lap 133, where he remained until the fourth caution of the race came out. Byron restarted in 17th and was in 11th when the red flag dropped on lap 152.
- He jumped to 10th with five laps left and moved to first when the second red flag was waived. Byron restarted overtime in second and quickly moved into first. Despite accidents happening behind him, Byron held on to earn his first Cup Series win and punch his ticket into the playoffs.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 17th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson started in seventh. He slipped down to 11th by lap four and slipped further to 14th several laps later. He was in 12th when the competition yellow dropped.
- At the restart, Johnson was in fifth. He edged up to fourth by lap 26 but tumbled all the way to 12th several laps later. Johnson started to pick off the field and was in sixth by lap 35. He fell to ninth two laps later and soon was in 12th.
- Johnson jumped to seventh ahead of teammate William Byron with seven left in the stage. He finished it in fifth place.
- Johnson began Stage 2 in fourth after getting four tires. On lap 56 he moved into second place where he stayed until he decided to pit on lap 66. He came off in 26th and slowly moved through the field. With eight laps to go, Johnson moved into 20th.
- Just four laps later he charged up the track to ninth. Johnson was in seventh one lap later and was fourth on the final lap. He ended the stage in fifth. Johnson moved up a position to fourth for the start of the third stage.
- He edged into the top three 13 laps into the segment and made to second on lap 119 but he was shuffled back to 14th on the same lap. Johnson pitted and was in 28th on lap 127. He moved into 14th after other cars pitted but fell to 20th with 19 laps to go.
- Johnson was riding in 19th when a massive accident occurred and caused the fifth caution. He restarted in 13th and was in fourth when he was caught up in the second big one of the race with two laps to go.
- Johnson pitted to try and salvage his car and returned to the track with heavy damage for overtime. He was able to finish the race and placed 17th.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 7th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bowman started right behind Johnson in eighth and edged up to fourth within the first four laps. He moved up two positions to second five laps later and maintained that spot until the competition yellow came out on lap 20.
- Bowman restarted in second and was shuffled back by the 30th lap. However, he tailed teammate William Byron and was in second by lap 35. One lap later, he was down to fifth. Bowman fell to 13th with nine to go in the first stage. He moved up to 11th on lap 46 and finished Stage 1 in 12th.
- The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE restarted Stage 2 in ninth. He surged ahead on the upper lane and was riding in fifth by lap 57. With the rest of the Chevrolets, Bowman pitted 16 laps into Stage 2 and came out in 31st. He placed 20th in Stage 2.
- Bowman kicked off the final stage in 18th. He fell back to 23rd 10 laps into the stage but powered up the field over the next several laps to break into the top 10. Bowman jumped three spots to seventh one lap later but pitted with most of the Chevrolets on lap 126.
- Eight laps later, he was back in 11th. However, he was down to 25th with 19 laps left in the race. Bowman jumped to 15th after the red flag waved from a huge incident. When the green flag was back in the air with five to go, Bowman was in 14th.
- The second red flag stopped the field again and Bowman was frozen in 10th. Under green, he restarted in fifth. He fell two spots to seventh, which is how he ended the race.