For the second consecutive week, William Byron wheeled his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to victory lane.
Byron secured the win at Phoenix Raceway after taking the lead from teammate Kyle Larson on an overtime restart, to earn his sixth career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
“So the restart, the launch went well for me,” Byron explained. “I had a really good launch. No wheel spin. At that point I was just focusing how can I get through the gears, how can I side draft Kyle. When they all pulled down to the apron, the outside guys at a bit of a disadvantage because of the distance. Trying to stay as close as I could there.
“Then it’s who can beat each other to the corner without hitting the wall,” Byron continued. “We both got in there deep, both were up the track. He held me really tight there through the middle of one and two, off of two. There was just enough grip up there. I think I was just far enough up on him I was able to stay in it.
“We were obviously dragged back. I got that big push from Tyler (Reddick) down the backstretch. That was huge. He drilled me, but we’re not going that fast. It was nice. That kind of got me out in some clean air.”
The 25-year-old went wheel-to-wheel with Larson out of turn two, completing the pass after Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney made it three wide on the backstretch.
Once he cleared Larson and Blaney, the driver of the No. 24 hung on for the final lap of overtime.
Harvick Comes Up Short
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick looked to be on his way to a 10th career Phoenix victory, after making a convincing pass on Larson for the lead with 44 laps to go.
Kevin Harvick (4), battles Kyle Larson for position. (Ivan Veldhuizen Photo)
However, a caution for Harrison Burton cutting a right front tire with 11 laps to go brought out a caution, erasing Harvick’s lead. While the leaders all came down pit road, the No. 4 team elected to take four tires and fuel.
Unfortunately for Harvick, six drivers took two tires, sending the sure-winner back to seventh.
A late-race caution involving Ty Gibbs, A.J. Allmendinger and Noah Gragson would trigger overtime, where Harvick would ultimately only manage to gain two positions to finish fifth after leading 36 laps.
“That one is not fun to swallow,” Harvick said. “We had a great car and didn’t need that caution at the end. We had a strong car and a chance to win. Just hate missing an opportunity when you have a car that strong.”
Despite the disappointing result, it was Harvick’s 20th consecutive top-10 finish at the one-mile oval, dating back to 2013.
Key Notes
• Stage one went caution-free, with Byron securing the stage win after passing polesitter Larson early on.
• Larson scored the stage two win, with one caution slowing action when SHR’s Aric Almirola lost a right front wheel on track, garnering a two-lap penalty on lap 138.
• Hendrick Motorsports’ Josh Berry earned his first career Cup Series top-10 after finishing 10th filling in for an injured Chase Elliott aboard the No. 9 Chevrolet.
• Tyler Reddick finally earned a top-10 on the season, after starting off the first three races of the season with a best finish of 15th at Las Vegas. Aboard the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, Reddick finished third at Phoenix.
• Alex Bowman secured a solid ninth-place result, extending his streak of four consecutive top-10 finishes to begin the season.
• Larson led the most laps with 201 before finishing fourth, while winner Byron led 64 laps.
Keyword: Two In A Row For Byron, Harvick Comes Up Short In Phoenix