What Happened
William Byron, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman came dogfighting to the white flag. Chastain made a risky move to the inside with only feet to spare and tagged Cindric in the process leaving the path completely open for Byron to take the victory at Daytona International Speedway.
Bowman had a run and managed to pass Byron but it was a moment too late as the caution came out.
With this win, Byron has managed to break Hendrick Motorsports’ winless drought in the Daytona 500, the last victory coming in 2014.
It is his 11th NASCAR Cup Series victory, Hendrick’s ninth in the 500, and the fourth 500 for the No. 24, bringing the number back to victory lane in the Great American Race for the first time since 2005.
What Really Happened
With a sold-out crowd, an array of manufacturer and driver changes, and good racing in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races, there was a considerable measure of disappointment when the Daytona 500 was moved to Monday (Feb. 19) due to rain. Instead of the traditional 2:30 p.m. ET start, the race was set to start at 4 p.m. ET the next day.
Many stories rotated heading into the event at Daytona. Joey Logano’s pole helped Ford grab the front row, toppling Bowman and Hendrick’s pole domination of the 500.
Meanwhile, Toyota continued its sweep of 2024’s Cup Series events with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell each taking a victory in the Duels. Despite its usual streak of bad qualifying runs, the Toyotas were showing out while the Chevrolets drivers had yet to take anything for themselves.
Coming to the green flag on Monday there were a lot of unknowns as the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum is not exactly the greatest tell-all when it comes to performance.
Surprisingly enough, each manufacturer held its own on the high banks, taking control of the race at different points. The Toyotas and Chevrolets were strong during the first stage while the Fords flat-out dominated in the second.
The third stage saw a broad mix of manufacturers shift in and out of dominance but it was the Chevrolets that controlled the race at the very end.
Byron won the 2024 Daytona 500 coming off of a breakout six-win season in 2023, effectively continuing his dominance of the Cup Series.
If he hasn’t arrived yet (and he certainly has), he’s here now, returning to victory lane at the site of his first-ever Cup Series victory in 2020.
Byron ran…
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