NASCAR
William Byron Wins First Road Course Race at Watkins Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Driver 24 was nearly flawless at Watkins Glen, evoking memories from two decades ago with Jeff Gordon. William Byron ironically led all but 24 laps in win number five of 2023. Watkins Glen may have been the Hendrick team’s most well executed race yet. The postseason is just two weeks away, and Byron appears in championship form already.
Starting third, Indianapolis winner Michael McDowell made a repeat performance look possible early on. For the second-straight week, the 34 won Stage 1. Their perfect execution ended with a rare driver mistake, with McDowell hitting too many pit boxes on entry under green on lap 21. This sent the 34 back to 15th, and allowed William Byron to win Stage 2. Byron took over the lead after staying out a lap longer and cycling ahead through a perfect first pit stop sequence.
No cautions flew between either Stages, with a yellow not happening until lap 55, when Chase Elliott ran out of fuel. The 9 team miscalculated fuel mileage and it bit them in the worst possible way, erasing a possible winning chance.
Little did anyone know at the time, but this would be the race’s lone caution flag. Elliott would remain trapped a lap down and finish 32nd. McDowell would also face another pit road penalty, claw his way back, but have an engine expire on lap 75.
Up front meanwhile the lead was unchallenged for William Byron. While Jeff Gordon took the number 24 to nine road course wins, Watkins Glen is the first for Byron. Win five of the season for Byron is perhaps his most dominant victory to date, leading 66 of 90 laps.
“Definitely feels really good,” Byron said. “Just a huge credit to the race team behind me. I want to thank (driver coach) Max Papis. Our first road course win, we’ve worked years and years for this. Just thanks to him, I know he’s watching back home. Thanks to all the guys on the team, Valvoline, Liberty, Axalta.”
“I did a lot of laps on iRacing this week. I got a new simulator at home, so thanks to those guys and everyone back home, the guys who support me. It’s a great win. I don’t know what it means in all that, I don’t read into that, but it shows that when we’re at our best we can perform like this.”
“We seem to go through that summer slump in July and August, and for some reason we just can’t quite put the races together. I think it’s the racetracks itself. Just came into this weekend with a good mindset, focusing on trying to get ready for the postseason, and we’ve had fast cars, we just haven’t executed races, but today was flawless, and just Rudy (Fugle, crew chief), everybody, all the spotters. Thanks to everybody. This is a cool win. Like I said, road courses have been tough, so it’s fun to get a win.”
“Just really good strategy by those guys. Brandon McSwain on the box. Those two guys work really well together, Ryan Kelly back at the shop. It was kind of like the old F1-style, stay out, get clean air, get a good lap in, and we pitted there and got the lead, and it was kind of ours from there. Just really proud of the team. Really awesome to get a road course win.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ Watkins Glen win streak extends on for another season. HMS has now won the last five races in New York between Chase Elliott (2018, 2019), Kyle Larson (2021, 2022) and now William Byron. The powerhouse team also inches closer to the elusive 300 victories mark, with Byron taking their 298th checkered flag.
Behind Byron, the Watkins Glen top-10 were: Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano.
Thanks to their points positions, both Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski locked up Playoff spots after Watkins Glen. Heading into the Daytona regular season finale, Bubba Wallace holds the final Playoff berth by 32 points. See the provisional Playoff grid below.
It all comes down to Daytona, with 17 drivers gunning for the final ticket to the championship dance. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 goes green Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Bubba Wallace is one of the best at Daytona, but is still winless on the Florida high banks. Chaos is almost guaranteed over 400 miles, and the final berth will not be decided until the checkers wave. Saturday is going to be can’t-miss drama and excitement, with everyone making one final push for the 2023 Playoffs.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Hendrick Motorsports via Twitter
