William Byron recovers from 3 laps down for 11th at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C.- William Byron has arguably been the best stock car driver in the Next Gen era at the NASCAR Cup Series level, but his latest feat came Saturday at Darlington in the Xfinity Series. 

Byron wrecked the No.17 car very early in Saturday’s race. With heavy damage and being three laps down when he returned to the racetrack, it looked like the former Xfinity Series champion’s day was all but over. 

However, with a driver as talented as Byron, there was plenty of race remaining to allow a recovery. 

Byron was able to remain the free pass car at the end of both the stages and ended up finding himself back on the lead lap in stage three. He was able to get the No.17 car very close to the Top-10, but would settle for 11th behind Brandon Jones. 

It was the third appearance for the Hendrick Motorsports No.17 car in the Xfinity Series this season. The car went to victory lane at Circuit of the Americas when Kyle Larson took the lead on the final lap. 

Byron looks to be a major threat to take the checkered flag in the Cup Series race Sunday. He qualified fifth Saturday morning, and has historically ran well at Darlington. 

In 11 races at the track Too Tough to Tame, Byron has a win, four Top-5 finishes and 5 Top-10 finishes, the win coming just last spring. With a solid history and a good qualifying run, Byron looks to be in great shape heading into Sunday. 

The Xfinity Series will be off next week before returning to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the BetMGM 300, with the green flag set to fly at 1 P.M. ET.