Byron gives Earnhardt’s race team Xfinity trophy

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. got the best retirement gift he could have asked for when William Byron won the Xfinity Series championship for JR Motorsports on Saturday, one day before Earnhardt’s final race as a fulltime driver.

Earnhardt is part owner of the race team with sister Kelley and boss Rick Hendrick, and JR Motorsports went in to the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 75 percent chance of winning the title. JRM drivers Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler and Byron were up against Daniel Hemric of Richard Childress Racing for the championship.

Hemric appeared up for the challenge and led the title contenders until he headed to pit road with a dead battery early in the second stage. The team changed the battery, but his car had no power after the swap. When Hemric finally got back on the track, he was down 12 laps from the leaders.

That sealed the title for JRM, and the organization only had to watch to see which of its three drivers would take the crown.

Although a second title for JRM was in the bag, it wasn’t without anxious moments.

“Man, that is tough watching those guys battle like that together,” Earnhardt said. “One thing about William winning, the over-the-wall guys I’m pretty close to a lot of them. They pit my car, too. It’s pretty cool to see these guys enjoy themselves.”

Sadler and Byron had a spirited

battle for the championship as they raced each other for position for several laps. The two had contact at least once, and it took Sadler until 36 laps remaining to get past Byron. But Byron came charging back, and the two again raced aggressively for position with nine laps remaining.

Sadler was held up by Ryan Preece, who was trying to win the owner championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Byron passed him for good with nine remaining as Sadler was stuck in the top lane behind Preece.

As the laps wound down, Sadler grew more aggressive and hit the wall. After fading to eighth, Sadler charged toward Preece on pit road.

“He cost us a championship, and he’s not racing anybody,”

Sadler said. “It’s just devastating to me to have one taken away from me like that.”

Sadler has now finished second in the standings four times in the past seven years.

Preece argued he was racing for position — he finished fifth — and Gibbs. But he felt horrible to have played a role in the title race.

“If there’s a person you don’t want to cost a championship to it is Elliott Sadler,” Preece said. “It’s not where I want to be right there. I can’t take it back.”

Cole Custer easily won his first career Xfinity Series race. It came a week after he was eliminated from the playoffs. He had leads of up to 15 seconds as he was out front for all but 15 of the 200 laps.