DAYTONA 500

Byron also avoided “The Big One” that came with eight laps to go in the 200lap race on Daytona’s 2.5mile superspeedway. That wreck ruined acres of sheet metal, as 23 cars were at least somewhat involved (more than half of the cars in the field of 40).

And then Byron again avoided another, smaller wreck that came just as the final lap began, when Ross Chastain tried to pass him for the lead. Byron was ahead by just a few feet when the crash broke out just behind him.

Once Byron finished the final lap under the caution flag, by rule he was declared the winner. His crew chief was crying on the radio, so for a few long seconds Byron wasn’t sure he had actually won.

“I hope he’s crying for a good reason,” Byron said he thought to himself.

Others, of course, weren’t as happy with the outcome.

“It’s speedway racing,” said Joey Logano on the Fox broadcast. Logano was caught up in the big crash, although he may have had the night’s fastest car. “It’s a lot of fun until it sucks.”

In a larger sense, though, a Byron win is no fluke at all.

Going into Monday, he had 10 Cup victories in six years of driving in NASCAR’s top series, including six wins in 2023, when Byron finished third in the standings. He’s one of the best drivers in the Cup Series — not just best young drivers, but all drivers.

“I wanted it so bad,” Byron said of racing in general. “I never grew up around it, but it was something I always loved.”

Byron is the sixth Hendrick Motorsports driver to win the Great American Race. He joins Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“It’s been 10 years, so I forgot how thrilling it really is,” said Hendrick, who last experienced a Daytona 500 win with Earnhardt Jr. in 2014.

The race was delayed by a day due to the incessant rain over the weekend.

But most of the grandstands were still full Monday. NASCAR said the crowd exceeded 100,000.

Byron had never finished better than 21st at the Daytona 500, had never even finished on the lead lap. But it all came together Monday night.

“I grew up,” Byron said, “just dreaming of what this would be like…. I mean no matter what you’re into, it’s all about what gets you up in the morning, what you absolutely can’t go without. And for me, that’s racing.” (Home team in ALL CAPS)

Team

UNC GREENSB. Lehigh

St. Bonaventure Illinois

Dayton

St. John’s CINCINNATI Clemson

ALABAMA

LOUISVILLE

Duke

XAVIER MEMPHIS Georgia INDIANA

MISS. STATE WICHITA ST. Kentucky MARQUETTE NEW MEXICO Pepperdine

Unlv

WINTHROP

Line

4½ 2½ 6½ 6½ 2½ 9½ 10½ 6½

7½

1½

5½

4½ 4½ 2½ 1½ 6½ 5½ 4½ 26½ 5½ 6½ 6½

9

Western Carolina ARMY LaSALLE PENN STATE GEORGE MASON GEORGETOWN Oklahoma State GEORGIA TECH

Florida

Notre Dame

MIAMI

Providence Charlotte VANDERBILT Nebraska Ole Miss Tulsa LSU DePaul Colorado State PACIFIC AIR FORCE Presbyterian

Team

Buffalo -132 MONTREAL +110 Philadelphia -192 CHICAGO +158 EDMONTON -142 Boston +118 Toronto -210 ARIZONA +172 ANAHEIM -120 Columbus +100 Updates: https://www.scoresandstats.com

Name, Team

A.Matthews, Tor.

S.Reinhart, Flor. N.Kucherov, T.B. D.Pastrnak, Bost. Z.Hyman, Edm. N.MacKinnon, Colo. A.Panarin, NYR B.Boeser, Van. S.Crosby, Pitts.

C.Verhaeghe, Flor.