William Byron had just crossed the finish line, narrowly leading on the last lap of the Daytona 500, when a caution ended NASCAR’s biggest race to give Byron the win over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman.
The victory came on the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports making its first Cup Series start and 10 years since Hendrick last won the Daytona 500.
Byron was racing Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric when contact between Chastain and Cindric sent them crashing as the field sped toward the checkered flag. NASCAR officials called for the yellow flag just after Byron had taken the white flag, signaling the race would end either under green or caution. Bowman was seemingly poised to pass his Hendrick teammate as he appeared to have momentum, but Byron fortuitously had the position and the win was his.
OFFICIAL: @WilliamByron was the leader at the time of caution.
He wins the 66th running of the #DAYTONA500! pic.twitter.com/PMIyF0TdVZ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2024
This will be updated.
Top-1o race results
Here’s the unofficial top-10 finishing order:
- William Byron
- Alex Bowman
- Christopher Bell
- Corey LaJoie
- Bubba Wallace
- AJ Allmendinger
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Eric Jones
- Noah Gragson
- Chase Briscoe
Required reading
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
