DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (AP) — William Byron raced to his second straight Daytona 500 victory, dodging a string of late-race wrecks that knocked out a chunk of contenders and sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver into victory lane Sunday night at Daytona International Speedway. Ninth in the No. 24 Chevrolet with one lap left, Byron became the first back-to-back winner since Denny Hamlin in 2019-20. Byron took advantage of another wreck on the final lap — NASCAR did not drop the caution and let the field race to the finish — and took another, familiar burnout in Daytona International Speedway. The 27-year-old Byron held on to win after two weather delays totaling more than 3 1/2 hours.
Hamlin expected a late caution would give him a 4th Daytona 500 win. NASCAR never threw the yellow
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Denny Hamlin surged into the lead on the final lap of the Daytona 500 and thought he had a fourth victory in “The Great American Race” within his reach Sunday night. Especially when Riley Herbst went spinning through the infield grass. Hamlin figured NASCAR was for sure going to throw a caution, especially after the Xfinity Series race a day earlier ended under yellow. But when Herbst was able to save his Toyota, NASCAR didn’t need to throw the caution and Hamlin wound up collected in the inevitable crash that comes from drivers making desperate moves. He was three-wide in the middle when Cole Custer wiggled into Hamlin’s car to trigger a race-deciding crash. Hamlin wound up 24th and William Byron won Daytona for the second consecutive year.