William Byron Starts Weekend with Xfinity Charlotte Victory

William Byron burning it down after winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Chloe Gunn | The Podium Finish)

CONCORD, N.C. — After being issued a speeding penalty on pit road during the race’s second stage, William Byron recovered to win the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in an overtime finish.

The outcome of the race was left up in the air when a caution came out on Lap 178 for Carson Kvapil spinning out while running in the fifth position. When pit road opened, race leader Justin Allgaier and four other drivers decided to stay out, while the rest of the lead lap cars elected to put fresh tires on for the final dash to the checkered flag.

Differing strategies mixed with three cautions in the closing laps set up an intriguing overtime restart. In Turns 3 and 4 of the initial overtime lap, Byron cleared Allgaier for the lead and claimed the victory after a caution for an incident involving Jeb Burton and Brennan Poole ended the race.

William Bryon (No. 17) lined up behind Justin Allgaier (No. 7) on the final restart of the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)

“Feels awesome to win,” said Byron. “It’s my home track. It’s fun to be back in Victory Lane, I feel like I haven’t won in a while.”

After receiving the speeding penalty during Stage 2, Byron struggled to work his way back up to the front of the field, especially during green flag conditions. Byron credited the number of cautions and positions gained on those restarts in helping him steal the win.

“I was somewhat confident,” Byron said on getting back to the front of the field. “I felt like if we got some yellows, it would be good, but, man, it didn’t work out the way we thought. Just had a lot of green-flag running and couldn’t get back to the front. Restart merchant there at the end.”

William Byron celebrating in Victory Lane after scoring the NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Chloe Gunn | The Podium Finish)

The driver on the other side of the caution flags at the end was Allgaier, who finished in fourth place after leading a race-high 103 laps. When looking back at the decision to stay out following the Kvapil spin, he felt they made the wrong decision in the end.

“I should have just come down pit road,” Allgaier said post-race. “I thought there would be a lot of games played on pit road, and if (those on fresh tires) had to travel through a lot of traffic, we were going to maybe net ok. All those cautions, one after the other, it was great because we were able to hold those guys off, but they really just hurt us because they (the drivers chasing him down) were able to get a spot or two every restart.”

Even with the difficult defeat, Allgaier still grew his lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings to 72 points over the second-place driver, Austin Hill.

William Byron’s No. 17 team celebrating on pit road after winning the BetMGM 300. (Photo: Chloe Gunn | The Podium Finish)

Connor Zilisch finished in second place in his return from a back injury sustained at Talladega Superspeedway, Nick Sanchez finished third, Allgaier fourth and Dean Thompson rounded out the top five. Finishing inside the top 10 were Josh Williams, Hill, Ryan Ellis, Christian Eckes and Sheldon Creed.

For Ellis, it was the first top 10 finish of his career in what was his 144th career start. Following post-race inspection, Sammy Smith was disqualified for not meeting the minimum weight requirement, dropping from fifth in the finishing order to 38th.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. William Byron
2. Connor Zilisch
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Sam Mayer
5. Jeb Burton
6. Ryan Sieg
7. Taylor Gray
8. Nick Sanchez
9. Brandon Jones
10. Jesse Love

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. William Byron
2. Justin Allgaier
3. Connor Zilisch
4. Taylor Gray
5. Brandon Jones
6. Sam Mayer
7. Ryan Sieg
8. Jesse Love
9. Sheldon Creed
10. Carson Kvapil

BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Finishing Results

*Disqualified following post-race inspection after failing to meet minimum weight. Originally finished in fifth place.