NASCAR officials declared that William Byron won the Daytona 500 after a crash opened the race’s final lap. It was deemed that Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro was ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman by just a nose when the yellow flag was thrown. However, onboard footage from Bowman’s car created some doubt over who actually won the weather-delayed Great American Race. It’s Tuesday, February 19, 2024 and this is Racing Recap, your summary of last weekend’s motorsports action.
Inaptitude met ambition when the NASCAR Cup Series field saw the white flag for the Daytona 500 on Monday night. In the inside lane, Corey LaJoie hit Penske’s Austin Cindric from behind. Simultaneously, eighth-generation watermelon farmer Ross Chastain shot a gap to try and jump ahead of Cindric’s No. 2 Ford Mustang. Chastain and Cindric collided, sending both cars sliding across the infield grass. The crash brought out a caution that ended the race. One crucial question remained. Who won?
Bowman had passed Byron as the yellow flag was thrown. On the final lap, the race leader is declared the winner at the moment of caution, according to NASCAR rules. While a winner was decided almost immediately, many television viewers were doubtful because the caution lights weren’t easily visible from the onboard footage. While NASCAR later published the aerial photo used to confirm the winner, a caution’s start is neither precise nor objective. Track conditions have to be deemed too dangerous to continue, then an official essentially hits a button for the yellow flag. If race control had hesitated for just a second longer, Bowman would have been the winner.
Regardless of who took first, Hendrick Motorsports secured a historic 1-2 finish to kick off its 40th anniversary season. The Chevrolet team won a record-tying ninth Daytona 500 victory to go level with Petty Enterprises. For Byron, it was the first time that he finished on the lead lap in his seven starts in the season-opening classic.
Race Results
1. – William Byron (Hendrick)
2. – Alex Bowman (Hendrick) – +0.006 seconds
3. – Christopher Bell (Gibbs) – +1.390 seconds
4. – Corey LaJoie (Spire) – +2.511 seconds
5. – Bubba Wallace (23XI) – +2.614 seconds
Byron And Bowman Spark The Big One
It would be amiss not to mention how Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers got in a position to win the Daytona 500. With less than ten laps to go, Bowman bumped Byron off-center near the front of the field as they headed into Turn 3. The No. 24 Camaro was pitched directly into Brad Keselowski’s Mustang, hooking him across the track into the outside line.
It was complete carnage as a significant chunk of the field was wiped out. The top four active drivers on the all-time superspeedway wins list (Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney) were taken out of the race. After the dust cleared, Cindric was the only former Daytona 500 winner left in the top 20. Byron and Bowman got away unscathed.