William Byron ‘can’t believe’ Homestead victory

The pairing of William Byron and crew chief Randy Fugle only took three races to find Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series.

Byron, 23, led the final 58 laps in the Dixie Vodka 400 Sunday (Feb. 28) at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning his third career win in the Cup Series.

“Thanks, God, for all the things that it takes to get to this level,” Byron said. “Great boss in Mr. Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, and Axalta. This car looks really cool.

“I can’t even believe it, honestly. It was just a really smooth day. And we worked hard in the Winter on this track. I can’t believe it.”

Byron and Fugle were paired at Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series in 2016, netting seven wins.

“There’s nothing like winning no matter what series it is, if it’s late models or legends cars or go-karts,” Fugle said. “There’s nothing like winning.

“I’ve got asked already, yeah, a Cup win is pretty amazing and it was a whole lot of fun. Winning is winning, and it’s just awesome.”

THROUGH THE FIELD
Tyler Reddick finished second, tying a career-high finish in the series.

“Finishing second is a good night considering how the first two weekends of the season have gone,” Reddick said.

“But I hate that I didn’t get this Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy into Victory Lane because if I would have then I would have gotten a lot of people in America free chicken tenders on Monday night.”

Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-5 finishers.

Denny Hamlin, who started on pole and was the defending race winner, finished 11th.

Defending series champion Chase Elliott finished 14th.

Chase Briscoe was the highest finishing rookie in 18th.

Chris Buescher, who won Stage 2 and led 57 laps, finished 19th.


SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
Team Chevrolet