(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
DARLINGTON, S.C. — William Byron didn’t have the flashiest day at Darlington Raceway, finishing fourth in the Cook Out Southern 500, but left for home with the solo points lead.
Just two drivers — Tyler Reddick and teammate Kyle Larson, the top-two finishers — earned more points than Byron. Larson secured a berth in the Round of 12 with a victory.
Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team battled handling issues early in the race, fighting a loose condition. But after starting the race in 23rd, he had nowhere to go but up. Byron climbed up to 16th at the end of Stage 1, and after pit stops and the choose v, restarted ninth.
At that point, Byron’s car came to life. The 25-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina broke into the top five at the end of Stage 2 and ended up fifth at the end of the segment.
“Once we got the car tightened up in Stage 1, we had really good pace in our No. 24 Liberty University Chevy,” Byron said after the race. “We started out Stage 2 really good – we started ninth and drove to fourth. Just really proud of the effort. When we started the race off, we weren’t making any ground up. I was really free and once we got our car in a better balance spot, I felt good about it.”
But in the end, the sixth-year driver had nothing for teammate Kyle Larson, who went on to win the race after Denny Hamlin made an unexpected pit stop for a loose wheel. Hamlin led a race-high 177 laps.
It was win No. 500 for Hendrick Motorsports engines across all three national series. Geoff Bodine got win No. 1 at Martinsville Speedway in 1984. Larson also got win No. 400 with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2018.
“I want to wish Kyle (Larson) and the whole No. 5 team a congratulations,” Byron said. “They deserve it. They’re really good here. It was win #500 for the Hendrick Motorsports engine shop, so it’s a huge deal.”
While Byron couldn’t bust off win No. 6 of the season, he left Darlington with a points lead over Larson by one, although he’s locked into the next round. Byron led points into the summer, but an inconsistent mid-season stretch along with dominance by Martin Truex Jr. relegated him to third in the regular-season standings.
With two races remaining before the first elimination race of the season, Byron is 45 points above the cutline.
“I think this is a good stepping stone for Kansas [Speedway],” Byron explained. “It was good to get a solid finish in the first race of the playoffs.”
The Hollywood Casino 400 is set for Sunday, Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Bubba Wallace, currently 13th in points, won the race last season.
