William Byron turns rough first half into Kansas top-5

KANSAS CITY, KAN. — As quickly as William Byron’s fortunes faded in the first half of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, it brightened again in the second half.

Byron started on the pole Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Then, he dropped to ninth before a lap 35 pit stop. During that stop, he caught a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road.

Byron fell two laps down and caught the wavearound on lap 109. He did it all over again between then and lap 139. This time, though, he got the lucky dog on lap 149 and got back on the lead lap.

Byron and his team maneuvered four cautions from laps 159-195 and cracked the top-5 again on lap 202.

Then, remarkably, the young Hendrick Motorsports driver passed dominant teammate Kyle Larson and took the lead on lap 212.

Although Larson retook the lead eight laps later, Byron finished third. While he didn’t earn any stage points, he gained two spots in the championship points and remained 73 points behind leader Ross Chastain.