William Byron dominates COTA, becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2024

William Byron Dominates At Circuit Of The Americas For Second Win Of 2024

AUSTIN, Texas — William Byron scored his second win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, winning at Circuit of the Americas in dominating fashion.

Byron led the most laps — 42 of 68 — and became the first driver to win multiple races in the NASCAR Cup Series this season.

Still, Byron believes there is plenty of progress to make six races into the season.

“Definitely room to improve, but I feel like we’re doing a really good job. And it [the win] feels really good after the last couple of weeks we’ve had,” Byron said.

William Byron started off the season with a bang. He won the Daytona 500 but didn’t scored another top-5 finish until Sunday.

Despite not winning either of the first two stages, Byron controlled the lead most of the day. He only lost it at the start of stage three when Ross Chastain passed him on the restart and led 10 laps — before Byron passed him back and drove away to the win.

The win marked Byron’s first win at COTA. It was also his third top-10 finish in 2024.

Sunday was the Hendrick Motorsports vs. Joe Gibbs Racing show. Both teams filled out the top four spots.

Christopher Bell closed to within a second of Byron on the final lap, but came home with a second-place finish. It was Bell’s fourth top-10 finish in 2024.

Ty Gibbs also had a strong showing with a third-place finish. For Gibbs, it was his second top-10 finish in his first two career starts at COTA.

Meanwhile, Alex Bowman finished fourth, which was his second-straight fourth place finish in the last two weeks.

TOP-10 FINISHERS: Byron, Bell, Gibbs, Bowman, Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr.

Busch finished ninth despite Bell spinning him earlier in the race. On pit road post-race, Busch exchanged words with Bell.

Justin Haley finished 17th but was disqualified for not meeting post-race weight requirements. Ross Chastain’s car will also go back to the R&D Center.

The win marks Byron’s 12th in the NASCAR Cup Series and puts him just one victory behind Tim Richmond on the all-time wins list.

Next week, Byron will try to make it three in a row, as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway on Easter Sunday for the Toyota Owners 400.