Byron's first time
We had to wait 24 hours longer than expected Daytona 500 2024 editionthanks to the rain that decimated Florida on Sunday, forcing the organizers to postpone the traditional opening event of the NASCAR Cup Series. There Great American Race However, he did not disappoint expectations, giving the first success in this iconic race (the 11th of his career in the Cup Series) to William Byron.
Decisive 'Big one'
The Chevrolet driver preceded Alex Bowman (his teammate in Hendrick Motorsport) and Christopher Bell, Toyota standard-bearer for the Joe Gibbs Racing team, in a frantic final. The success of #24 arrived in 'caution' regime: right at the finish line, at the beginning of the last lap of the race, a contact between Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric – who were battling with Byron himself for the lead – caused the final yellow flag. The 'moviola' showed how the leaders of the group had already started the last lap of the race at the time of the accident and therefore frozen the positions at the moment of the cautionwithout allowing the match to continue into overtime.
The truly crucial episode of this Daytona 500, however, occurred at 10 laps to gowhen a poorly calibrated 'bump' from Bowman to Byron triggered a big one of enormous dimensions, with 23 cars involved in total. Fortunately, all the drivers escaped unscathed from the impressive collective crash, but many notable names – from three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin to reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney – were forced to retire.
Hendrick Motorsport returns to success at the Daytona 500
Byron's statement broke a fast in America's most important race that for the Hendrick Motorsports it had even lasted for 10 years: the last to win for Rick Hendrick's team was Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner in 2014 at the wheel of the #88.
#Daytona #chaos #accidents #Byron #wins
