William Byron finishes 12th in bid for Daytona 500 three-peat

William Byron fell 11 positions short of winning a third straight Daytona 500 Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who started 39th, failed to collect stage points and did not lead any laps, finishing NASCAR’s season opener in 12th-place.

The two-time Daytona 500 winner was caught up in two crashes, including the first crash on lap 6 and the 17-car crash on lap 125.

“We had a lot of damage on our car from the Stage One incident,” Byron said.

“Our right-front suspension was bent, so the car was driving really weird and it was just super, super loose, as well as tight as the same time.”

Yet, Byron will had a chance to race for the win, pushing Michael McDowell as the second racer on the bottom line exiting the Daytona Tri-oval on the white flag lap.

“I couldn’t believe we had a shot there at the end, I thought that was amazing,” Byron said. “It was a great strategy with the fuel sequence, and I thought, man, we have a shot with lining up on the front two rows. That’s all you can ask for.

“I thought Tyler (Reddick) was out to a pretty decent lead on the restart, and I thought the bottom was the place to be. There was one time I got clear and I probably could have taken the middle, but I didn’t know if the balance of my car could handle being there.

“I just had to keep my car straight, so I thought if I tried to make a block, I would wreck. It was just incredible that we had a shot at it there at the end.”

Byron leaves Daytona 18th in driver’s standings, two points behind the cutline for the NASCAR Chase.

History

Byron was the fifth driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s.

Seven-time series champion and Daytona 500 champion Richard Petty was the first driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500 races in 1973 and 1974. Petty Petty led 51 laps en route to a seventh-palce finish in the 1975 race.

Cale Yarborough did it next in 1983 and 1984. He led 36 laps in the 1985 Daytona 500 before an engine issue sidelined him with a 36th-place finish.

Sterling Marlin was the next driver to do it in 1994 and 1995. Despite leading three laps, engine issues cut Marlin’s race short, ultimately finishing 40th in the 1996 race.

Prior to Byron, Denny Hamlin was the most-recent driver to accomplish the feat, doing it in 2019 and 2020.

Hamlin led a race-high 98 laps in 2021 but finished fifth. It is the highest finish among back-to-back Daytona 500 winners in their quest for a third win.