Byron wins Xfinity race by holding off Menard
INDIANAPOLIS — William Byron’s first trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended with an unforgettable finish.
After taking the lead with 15 laps left, the teenage rookie used some savvy moves and a little luck Saturday to hold off the hard-charging Paul Menard for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win in less than a month.
The margin of 0.108 seconds was the narrowest in race history, and he earned it by blocking the winner of the 2011 Brickyard 400 — the Cup Series race at IMS — for the final two laps while dealing with a troublesome tire for the final 20 in the 100-lap, 250-mile event.
“I can’t believe that tire held,” Byron said. “But it is awesome, man.”
At 19 years, 7 months, 23 days, Byron became the youngest winner of a major race on the historic 2.5-mile oval. Brazil’s Matheus Leist set the previous mark in May when he won the Indy Lights race at 19 years, 8 months, 19 days.
And in three short weeks, Byron has visited victory lane at two tracks — Daytona International Speedway and IMS — that often torment even more experienced drivers.
Getting there Saturday sure wasn’t easy. The cars were equipped with restrictor plates, new air ducts and a different splitter in hopes of making the race more competitive than in past years. In part, it worked.
Eight drivers traded the lead 16 times, both race records. And before Menard pressed the issue, Byron had to hold off Cup Series regular Joey Logano, who finished third, more than three seconds back.
“I made a pretty aggressive dive into (turn) one on the last lap to see if I could get him loose, but he hung on,” Menard said. “Maybe I could have gotten his bumper, but it would have killed my momentum, too. I definitely tried to get him loose and couldn’t.”
But there was plenty of single-file racing, too, so NASCAR officials will now debate whether a similar package would make for a more entertaining Cup Series race when the Brickyard 400 moves to its new spot on the schedule in September 2018.
One driver who would vote against it is Kyle Busch, whose four-race winning streak at Indy ended after winning both the Cup and Xfinity series events the past two years. He wound up 12th.
Byron, unlike Busch, had no complaints.
“I knew in practice the car was driving really well. I thought this was our race to lose,” said Byron, who also narrowly held on to win the first of three stages, beating Busch by 0.113 seconds. “It’s the first time I’ve come here, and it’s such a special moment walking into the place.”
Elliott Sadler, who started in pole position, won the second stage under caution, just ahead of Brennan Poole.
Busch looked like he would hold on to win the final stage until he drove onto pit road with 18 laps to go, turning the lead over to Sadler. Busch never led another lap.
“I’m still not sure why we did what we did,” Busch said.