William Byron wins at Homestead to give NASCAR another surprise winner

William Byron gave NASCAR its third surprise winner in three weeks, this one not quite as stunning as the first two at Daytona International Speedway.

Byron picked up the second win of his NASCAR Cup Series career Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and dominated along the way.

Byron led the final 58 laps and went unchallenged to the checkered flag. While his margin of victory was 2.7 seconds on Tyler Reddick, at times Byron led by over five seconds. The winning pass was made when Byron overtook Martin Truex Jr. a few laps after the final restart of the Dixie Vodka 400.

The win likely clinches Byron a playoff spot for the third consecutive season.

Byron entered the weekend as a 28-1 shot to win a race many expected would provide a return to normal for the racing series. Instead, Michael McDowell — who won the season-opening Daytona 500 — and Christopher Bell, who triumphed on the Daytona road course one week later — have company in the relatively odd group of 2021 winners.

Byron, whose lone victory before Sunday came in the 2020 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, got a huge boost this season when Rick Hendrick hired new crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle to reunite with Byron and lead the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team.

“That guy has been huge for my career,” Byron said of Fugle. “He’s the reason I’m here, and I’m glad we could get him. He’s just awesome. This whole team did a phenomenal job. 

"This car looks really cool. I’m can’t even believe it, honestly. It was just a really smooth day."

Byron and Fugle, who is just three races into his Cup career, were paired up in the Truck Series in 2016 running for Kyle Busch Motorsports and scored a win Homestead.

“Get used to winning, boys,” Fugle said on the No. 24 team radio after the checkered flag. “Get used to it!”

Fugle spent eight years at KBM and led the trucks program to two driver championships and five owner titles. His trucks won 28 races, seven with Byron behind the wheel.

Reddick came up one spot short in a spectacular charge to the front. Reddick ran eighth with 25 laps to go but began making up time by going to the top of the track. He cut down over 10 seconds on the leaders to finish second.

Truex finished third, Kyle Larson fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth.

McDowell, who finished sixth, earned his third consecutive top-10 finish after winning the Daytona 500. It is the first time in his career that McDowell has started the year with three top-10s in a row.

“To make a big jump like we did, I wouldn’t say that it’s a completely unbelievable shock, but it’s pretty close to it,” said McDowell. “We have definitely outperformed where we thought we’d be.”

 Ryan Newman finished seventh, and Kurt Busch finished eighth. For Busch, it was a rebound after pitting from fourth-place because of a loose left-front wheel with 40 laps to go.

Alex Bowman finished ninth, and Kyle Busch completed the top 10. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin, who started at the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments after inspection, finished 11th. Hamlin was penalized for speeding when pitting under the final caution on lap 201.

Bell finished 20th, a letdown after his first career Cup Series win last weekend.

The final caution was for a collision between Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney. Almirola came up the track and into the left side of Blaney as Blaney was charging on the outside lane in Turn 3.

Chris Buescher won the first stage. Byron won the second stage and led a race-high 102 of 267 laps.

CREW MEMBER CLEARED

A tire carrier for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota was cleared to participate in Sunday’s race after getting clipped on pit road a day earlier.

Josh Shipplett complained of rib soreness after Xfinity Series driver Daniel Hemric overshot his pit stall and hit one of the right-side tires Shipplett was carrying during an early pit stop. The contact knocked Shipplett to the ground. He ended up getting X-rays, which were negative, and was cleared to work the Cup Series event.

Hemric apologized profusely after Saturday’s race, saying “I’ve got to be better than that.”

BET PAID

Retired driver and current Fox Sports racing analyst Clint Bowyer wore a Tom Brady jersey during the pregame show to pay off a Super Bowl bet with former Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola, a Tampa native. Bowyer is from Kansas and is a huge Chiefs fan. He jokingly tossed a replica Lombardi Trophy to the asphalt in disgust for his attire.

It was the second straight year Bowyer was part of a friendly, on-air wager. Fellow Fox analyst and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon lost a Super Bowl bet with Bowyer in 2020 when the Chiefs beat San Francisco. Gordon had to wear a Chiefs jersey during a Daytona 500 broadcast.

UP NEXT

The series heads west for a two-week stretch, beginning with the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Sunday. Joey Logano is the defending race winner.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Dixie Vodka 400 results

Sunday from the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway (starting position in parentheses):

1. (31) William Byron, Chevrolet, 267 laps, 57 points.

2. (35) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 267, 35.

3. (9) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267, 49.

4. (17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, 44.

5. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267, 36.

6. (6) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267, 31.

7. (23) Ryan Newman, Ford, 267, 30.

8. (5) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, 39.

9. (13) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267, 36.

10. (24) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 27.

11. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 35.

12. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 26.

13. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 267, 24.

14. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 26.

15. (21) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267, 22.

16. (7) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 31.

17. (32) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267, 20.

18. (30) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 267, 19.

19. (12) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267, 33.

20. (3) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 267, 17.

21. (8) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 267, 16.

22. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267, 15.

23. (10) Cole Custer, Ford, 267, 14.

24. (27) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, 267, 13.

25. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 16.

26. (20) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266, 0.

27. (18) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 266, 10.

28. (37) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 266, 9.

29. (14) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 266, 11.

30. (16) Aric Almirola, Ford, 264, 7.

31. (28) Garrett Smithley, Ford, 263, 0.

32. (26) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 261, 0.

33. (36) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 259, 4.

34. (34) BJ McLeod, Ford, 258, 0.

35. (38) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 258, 2.

36. (25) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, engine, 151, 1.

37. (29) James Davison, Chevrolet, engine, 61, 1.

38. (33) Timmy Hill, Ford, electrical, 21, 0.