Byron, who had never finished better than 21st in the NASCAR Cup season opener, grabbed the lead from Ross Chastain on a restart with four of 200 laps remaining.
Byron had just taken the white flag – signaling the start of the final lap – when a multi-car wreck erupted behind him which forced NASCAR to immediately throw a caution, which froze the field.
That locked Byron, 26, into the victory in Monday’s rain-delayed “Great American Race” – the 302nd Cup win for HMS.
The win Byron’s 11th of his career and comes on the heels of his first appearance last season in the Championship 4 competing for a series title.
Chastain was behind Byron on the outside coming down the frontstretch when he attempted to cut to his inside for the lead but instead made contact with Austin Cindric, which triggered the final caution.
Byron’s Hendrick teammate, Alex Bowman ended up second, Christopher Bell was third, Corey LaJoie fourth and Bubba Wallace rallied from a late pit stop for fuel to finish fifth.
Completing the top-10 were A.J. Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe.
Stage 1
Following some late green flag stops for fuel, Chase Elliott passed Kyle Busch on the last of 65 laps and claimed the Stage 1 win. Kyle Larson was second, Chastain third, Bowman fourth and Byron fifth as Chevrolets took the top six spots.
A lap 5 wreck collected seven cars and knocked Harrison Burton, Carson Hocevar and Kaz Grala out of the race early.
Stage 2
Ryan Blaney shoved Cindric to the lead, then passed him on the last lap and held on to take the Stage 2 win by 0.117 seconds.
Daniel Suarez was third, Busch – who led entering the last lap – was fourth and Reddick rounded out the top five. Busch rallied from a safety violation on his green flag pit stop to get back in contention for the stage victory.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, all the lead lap cars elected to pit with Cindric first off pit road. Suarez was penalized by NASCAR for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.
During the break, Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet dropped to the apron of the track and appeared to be trailing smoke. He made it to pit road when it was discovered he was missing the lug nut on his left-front wheel.
The final stage went green on lap 137 and Cindric out front.
With 50 laps remaining, LaJoie and Busch battled side by side for the lead and two laps later Hamlin…
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