William Byron wins Daytona 500 in 1-2 finish for Hendrick Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the first time since 2005, Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 car is a winner in the Daytona 500 – this time with William Byron.

Byron passed Ross Chastain for the lead with just four laps to go. He had to hold off several challenges, including coming to the white flag.

Chastain levied a huge run from about three cars back to go to the inside of Byron, who tried blocking Chastain as he came with huge momentum.

Chastain made his move with just enough room under Byron but not enough room to Austin Cindric on the inside, whom he clipped.

Cindric and Chastain went sliding through the infield grass. As they came back up into traffic, NASCAR officials threw the caution – with William Byron was out in front.

“Daytona 500, it’s frigging awesome, let’s go! This is so cool, I used to sit up in the stands and watch this race!” Byron said to FOX “It sounds really damn good. I’ve so many emotions, I hate what happened on the backstretch but so proud of this team and 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports.

2024 DAYTONA 500 RECAP

After over a day of anticipation, the field of 40 NASCAR Cup Series car kicked off stage one with some two, sometimes three-wide racing.

STAGE ONE

The intensity snapped when Harrison Burton spun off the front bumper of Brad Keselowski. Burton spun into Carson Hocevar, sending them careening across the tri-oval grass.

Burton slid back up the track, hitting Kaz Grala and Austin Dillon. The wreck took Burton, Grala and Hocevar out of the race and Dillon out of contention.

Afterward, the game of checkers turned to chess. Ryan Blaney, Daniel Hemric and Christopher Bell stayed out. They slowed the pack down four seconds a lap at one point.

Finally, the pack had enough and they went all out until Blaney, Hemric and Bell pitted.

Others pitted with them, like Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Brad Keselowski, but the former three fell behind because they had to take on more fuel.

That move put them a lap down with some suspense over if the other drivers were going to pit. To their benefit, they did and the Chevrolet drivers prevailed.

Kyle Busch cycled out as the leader. However, the Hendrick gang pushed Chase Elliott to the lead over six other Chevrolets in the top-10 to end stage one. 

TOP-10: Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez

STAGE TWO

While Ford drivers were shut out of any stage points in stage one, they came back with a vengeance in stage two. 

Joey Logano took the lead from Kyle Larson and held it for 21 laps before Ford teammate Todd Gilliland took his turn up front.

Going into Monday, Gilliland had led just 11 laps in his first 72 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. In stage two, alone, he led 16 laps. 

Kyle Busch rose to the top both before and after stops, hoping to finally win the Daytona 500 in his 19th attempt after coming so close in his 18th. He dueled Austin Cindric, trading the lead twice officially at the line but multiple times around the track.

Cindric appeared to be in contention to win stage two until teammate Ryan Blaney upset him exiting turn four. 

TOP-10: Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Suarez, Busch, Tyler Reddick, Byron, Wallace, A.J. Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Chris Buescher

FINAL STAGE

As the final stage began, Kyle Busch was dealt a setback. The front tire changer didn’t get the left-front tire fully tight, which caused the splitter to drag, smoke to arise from his car and Busch to pit again.

“Come on guys, get your heads out of your a*ses and quit f*cking up,” team owner Richard Childress said over the radio.

A.J. Allmendinger came back from one lap down after serving a speeding penalty under green in stage one to leading in the final stage.

The final stage was good to the underdogs early on. Hemric, who stood at 100:1 odds in many sportsbooks before the race, was pushing his leading teammate. Meanwhile, Corey LaJoie, who entered the weekend at around 66:1 odds, led for a lap.

LaJoie took it after Kyle Busch completed a 13-lap run from 18th to 1st, not looking to go winless in the Daytona 500 for another year.

Denny Hamlin, a three-time 500 winner, had something to say. Hamlin took the lead for the first time in the race on lap 152 and dueled with Busch.

When green flag pit stops cycled around, the contenders changed.

Ross Chastain commanded the field as the intensity level resembled a powder keg with under 10 laps to go. Brad Keselowski was his top challenger, trying everything they could.

Then, Keselowski finally got under Chastain with eight to go. As he did, Alex Bowman gave William Byron a bad bump and sent him into Keselowski.

That bump set off a massive 23-car wreck involving names like Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Anthony Alfredo.

Cindric, Elliott, Bell, Briscoe and Preece escaped the mayhem. Cindric played a critical role in the chaos about to unfold.

THE FINISH

On the restart with four laps to go, Ross Chastain restarted on the outside with William Byron to the inside.

Byron cleared Chastain but the named dubbed “The Disrupter,” capable of moves like the “Hail Melon,” wasn’t going to be denied on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

Chastain launched a move from sixth on the backstretch to challenging Byron for the lead coming into the tri-oval, about to get the white flag.

The Trackhouse driver needed about six inches to make one of the greatest moves in recent Daytona 500 history but he didn’t get it. Chastain tagged Cindric, sending them spinning into the grass and back up the track.

The caution fell and Byron was the winner.

Byron earned his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series win and his first in the Daytona 500. It is also his first win at Daytona since August 2020.

2024 DAYTONA 500 BY THE NUMBERS

Cautions: 5

NEXT NASCAR CUP SERIES RACE

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday for the Ambetter Health 400. Follow TRE as we will be on the ground covering the race.

Catch the race on FOX, MRN affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.