NASCAR
William Byron takes Charlotte Xfinity race in Overtime scramble
CONCORD, N.C. – Reigning two-time Daytona 500 champion and hometown hero William Byron returns to Xfinity Series victory lane. Capturing his first Saturday checkered flag since 2017, Byron was arguably class of the field in the Hendrick No. 17. Charlotte marks Byron’s last Xfinity start of the season, and he goes out with a bang winning at home.
William Byron was the dominant driver in this race’s first half, leading 69 laps across a stage-sweeping performance. A pit road speeding penalty set the Hendrick No. 17 Chevrolet back for Stage 3, however.
Despite losing all track position, Byron soon found the top-10 again and kept rallying. This turn of events handed the lead to Justin Allgaier, looking for a second win across three seasons at Charlotte. Allgaier soon built up his own large advantage in the final stage.
Allgaier’s apparent command over this race only unraveled under caution on lap 180. The No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was one of a few cars to not pit, putting him at a tire disadvantage.
A series of quick yellows kept the field bunched together, but Allgaier’s tires finally gave up in overtime, allowing Byron to complete the comeback trail to victory lane. This marks the Charlotte native’s first NASCAR victory of any kind at his hometown track.
“I was somewhat confident,” Byron said about rebounding from the penalty. “I felt like if we got some yellows we’d be good, but man it didn’t work out the way we thought it did. Just had a lot of green flag running, and couldn’t really get back to the front. Feels awesome to win, it’s my home track, restart merchant there at the end. It’s fun to be back in victory lane, I feel like I haven’t won in awhile. Just appreciate all these guys.”
“I feel like I just needed to get to the front couple rows, and I wasn’t able to get there until the last one. Justin (Allgaier) got a good restart, was able to push him and get clear of the 88, and then had some clean air on the nose. Just a crazy end to the race.”
Fellow Charlotte native Connor Zilisch followed Byron across the line, just ahead of rookie Nick Sanchez. Allgaier backslid to fourth, with teammate Sammy Smith behind him. Dean Thompson, Josh Williams, Austin Hill, Ryan Ellis, and Christian Eckes were the rest of the top-10. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
No more Cup drivers will make any more appearances in the Hendrick No. 17 this season. Starting next week, the reigns are handed over to young phenom Corey Day. He will try and take this team back to victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway in the Tennessee Lottery 250. The green flag flies Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to David Jensen/Getty Images
