William Byron met the moment at Daytona
Chad Knaus described the feeling of his team winning its first NASCAR race of the season as “more relief than maybe the elation of victory.”
“I really wanted to get to Victory Lane with this 24 car again,” said Knaus, the crew chief for the No. 24 Chevrolet driven by William Byron. “To be able to do it with the legacy that Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham started with this car at Hendrick Motorsports to get it back to Victory Lane, follow suit with what Chase (Elliott) was able to do with the 24 car, to put William’s name up there, it’s a lot of pressure.”
“I feel really happy about it and definitely a lot of relief,”
Knaus said.
Byron secured his first win in the Cup Series Saturday, at a time when the team needed it most; With one race left in the regular season, Byron was barely holding onto the 16th
place spot as the final driver to make it into the playoffs on points. Before the race, Byron sat just four points ahead of his Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson on the cutoff. He had slipped to four points below Johnson by the start of the final stage.
But a late wreck sparked by the leaders, and a maneuver by Byron to weave between them, put him at the front of the pack when the overtime race returned to green with just a couple laps remaining. Byron held onto the top spot and locked in his place to continue racing for a 2020 title.
“There was a point in that race that I didn’t really think things were going to work out in our favor to make the playoffs,” Byron said, adding that he was in one of those “do-or-die situations” late in the race.
“Kind of crossed that fork in the road tonight,” Byron said. “We were able to be aggressive and make it happen. Really just the final probably 10 laps of the
race I was on offense, trying to just win the race and take whatever run I could.”
Byron drove between thenleader Joey Logano, who crashed out, and Bubba Wallace to get into first place. At the same time, Logano got loose, lost control and fell back, collecting multiple drivers behind him to force the second red flag of the evening. One of those drivers was Johnson, who was running strong in the top-10 and was looking to clinch a postseason bid in his retirement year. Johnson was bested by his Hendrick teammate Byron and his former crew chief Knaus, with whom he won six of his seven Cup championships.
Knaus said after the race that he felt “awful” that was the case, but that Johnson shouldn’t have been at a deficit for points. He missed a race earlier this season due to a positive COVID-19 test, which could have made up the difference in points.
“I hate it for Jimmie,” Knaus said. “He’s one of my best friends. He was the first guy that came by pit road and
looked up at me, revved up the engine, gave me a thumbs up. He means the world to me.”
But the victory fulfilled a personal achievement for Knaus, who has 82 wins as a Cup Series crew chief, 81 of which were with Johnson.
“I wanted to get to Victory Lane with a car number as a crew chief without Jimmie Johnson on top of the door,” Knaus said. “Nothing against Jimmie or any of that, but just to do it, to see if I could accomplish it.”
Byron was also ready to meet the moment. He said he felt like his first win in the series was “a long time coming”
“I was thinking the other day before this race actually just how long it’s actually been since I’ve won a race,” said Byron, whose rookie year in Cup was 2018. “I’ve really been wanting to win and have that feeling again of adrenaline.”
Byron said that the “elimination-style” of racing, with bubble drivers battling it out Saturday night, helped prepare him for what’s to come in the playoffs. It’s shaping up
to be an interesting picture with leader Kevin Harvick holding 10 points over Denny Hamlin in second place.
Hamlin sits 18 points ahead of Brad Keselowski in third.
Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman are next in the playoff points standings. Through his race and stage wins, Byron, interestingly, sits ahead of seven drivers. Those drivers are Austin Dillon, Cole Custer, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kyle and Kurt Busch and Matt Dibenedetto, are all in the playoffs. After Custer, none of those drivers have a race win this season. Custer, as the only Cup rookie to win a race and continue past the regular season, is the rookie of the year.
Another Cup rookie, Tyler Reddick, made a late move to force the second-to-last caution. He passed Kyle Busch in the lead too close, forcing Busch to check up and cause the first major wreck. The incident also forced Busch from the race.
“Still 2020,” Busch said on
NBC. “Nothing’s changed.”
The same goes for Johnson. The final race of the regular season ended marked by the same frustrating circumstances that characterized his year. But Johnson said he hasn’t “put as much” on this being his retirement year than others. He said his goal continues to be to run competitively even if it’s not for a record-eighth championship.
Byron and Knaus, on the other hand, are still in the hunt even if it is 50 points behind Harvick. Byron proved Saturday he can meet the moment and that he’s capable of stealing a win.
“I think we’ve got a shot to get up there, fight with these guys a little bit,” Knaus said about his team’s chances in the postseason. “I’m not going to say we can’t, but we haven’t shown we can get out there and run races with those guys as consistently as they can, finish in the top five as consistently as they can.
“Sometimes it only takes a little spark to light a fire, and maybe this is just that spark.”