With the right strategy, Charlotte’s William Byron dominated his NASCAR Cup Series win at COTA
William Byron’s second NASCAR Cup Series win of 2024 was never in doubt.
No driver had won a race from the pole in over a year, but the series’ defending wins leader pretty much went wire to wire in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on the Circuit of Americas’ world-renowned road course.
Still, it wasn’t necessarily a runaway win for Byron, the Charlotte native already likely locked into the playoffs after emerging victorious in the Daytona 500. He led 43 of 68 laps at the 3.41-mile track, dominating the early stages.
But he strategically gave up the wins to pit at the right time. Christopher Bell charged through the field during the race’s final laps and nearly ran down Byron, but no one was catching that No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Sunday.
“I was pushing pretty hard. I mean, it’s just a lot of long laps around here,” Byron explained in his post-race news conference. “I don’t know, four miles or whatever it is, it doesn’t go by quickly. I wouldn’t say ‘boredom’ is the right word, but it’s taking a long time to get to the checkered. You’re wondering what is going to happen. It’s easy to fall out of the rhythm because of that.
“Everyone’s too good. The car’s too close. Everyone’s too good. I think even though the gaps might be what they are, it’s really easy for somebody to close. Really just takes sliding the tire one time, being a little bit looser that run, a little bit tighter, whatever. It’s pretty close.”
Byron has been achieving unprecedented success in the sport — he grew up making a name for himself in online iRacing. At 26 years old and the driver of Hendrick’s famous No. 24 car, Byron continues etching his name as one of NASCAR’s biggest stars.
It’s defied how typical race car drivers progress in their careers, especially at the legendary NASCAR team that’s celebrating its 40th anniversary.
“It’s making us look at young, up-and-coming drivers that might be the next stars,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon. “It makes you kind of look at what’s out there, what are options, what does simulator racing mean? Guys that don’t get into cars at 5 and 6 years old, what are they capable of? That’s what we’ve seen with William.
“He makes up for the lack of experience he had prior to coming to the Cup Series through the way he focuses, the way he preps, the effort he puts in,” Gordon continued. “Don’t discount what he’s done to get here, because it’s not always the stuff that’s just on track. There’s a lot more to it. That’s what he’s proven, is working to get him to the top right now in this series.”
Kyle Busch confronts Christopher Bell post-race
Christopher Bell, who worked through the field to a second-place finish on Sunday, was attempting to pass Kyle Busch around Turn 1. But Bell tried to cut to the inside on one of the track’s sharpest turns, and he spun Kyle Busch.
Busch finished ninth and marched up pit road toward Bell right after climbing out of his No. 8 Chevy and gave him a piece of his mind. Back on Lap 23 in Stage 1, Bell got into Kyle Larson and spun him as well.
“Larson, I made a mistake. I got into the back of him and spun him out,” Bell told reporters. “But KB, he opened his entry up and tried to cross over whenever I was running my line. Had I known that he was gonna come across the race track, I would have braked a little bit, but I never expected him to do that.”
Kamui Kobayashi spins late, finishes 30th in second Cup Series start
Kamui Kobayashi, the 37-year-old Japanese driver, made his second start in the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, piloting the No. 50 Toyota for 23XI Racing.
Kobayashi has competed in Formula 1, FIA World Endurance Championship, 24 Hours of Le Mans and more. He holds the track record at Le Mans and twice won the 24 Hours of Daytona.
It wasn’t his best run Sunday at COTA, as he spun around twice and finished 30th. Kobayashi also ran in the Cup Series race at Indianapolis last year.
This story was originally published March 23, 2024 at 9:00 PM with the headline "With the right strategy, Charlotte’s William Byron dominated his NASCAR Cup Series win at COTA."
