WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International may have lacked the drama of last week's event at Iowa Speedway, one in which William Byron coasted on fumes to his second victory of the year.
And while Byron didn't quite get back to victory lane for the second straight race, he only continued to help himself in the big picture.
Byron turned in a workmanlike performance, keeping the fenders on his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet clean all day in rolling home in fourth place. With the result, he extended his lead in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season points standings to 42 over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott with just two events remaining before the playoffs begin.
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From the outset, track position was king and passes were hard to come by. That played out in stage one, with crew chiefs taking strategies in different directions in an effort to move up the scoring pylon.
That was true for both Blake Harris and Alan Gustafson, crew chiefs of the No. 48 and No. 9 Chevrolets, respectively. Harris kept driver Alex Bowman on track as most of the field ducked onto pit road to short-pit the stage one caution break and Gustafson did the same with Elliott. Come points-counting time, Bowman earned nine bonus markers via a second-place finish and Elliott piled up seven with a fourth-place run.
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Bowman pitted during the yellow flag while Elliott stayed out, restarting third. Byron, who was among the majority who pitted late in the first segment, restarted the second stage 10th. With Elliott having gained seven key markers in the battle for the regular season points championship, this time, Byron stayed out while others pitted, coming home second to earn nine points. Bowman added seven more critical tallies to his total, continuing to separate himself from the playoff bubble.
All three cars remained on track to begin stage three with Byron and Bowman quickly clearing themselves into second and third place, respectively.
However, stretching fuel long necessitated early stops in the final segment. Byron's stop came with 34 circuits remaining and as other drivers ducked onto pit road to get their final service of the race, Byron slowly ascended back into the top five, staying there until the checkered flag waved.
Bowman finished 20th while Elliott came home 26th. Kyle Larson earned a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race with a 1:13.203.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns on Saturday at Richmond Raceway. The event is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start and will air on USA Network.
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Who won the NASCAR race today?
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- William Byron, No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- AJ Allmendinger No. 16
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Ryan Preece, No. 60
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Zane Smith, No. 38
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Michael McDowell, No. 71
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Noah Gragson, No. 4
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Riley Herbst, No. 35
- Denny Hamlin No. 11
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34
- Cody Ware, No. 51
- Ty Dillon, No. 10
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Cole Custer, No. 41
- Josh Berry, No. 21
- Katherine Legge, No. 78
- Josh Bilicki, No. 66
- JJ Yeley, No. 44
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet