William Byron Scores 2nd Win of 2024 at COTA

In some cases, the best car wins. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team brought the best car to the Circuit of the Americas, as William Byron started the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix from the pole and dominated. Christopher Bell tried to chase him down in the closing laps but did not have enough time as he would have to settle for second.

Byron has been off to another great start in 2024, as he started the season winning the Daytona 500, and now picking up a win in what was a long, enduring road course race. Despite the race having no cautions for cause and only the two stage cautions, it was an exciting race that put the drivers to the test. This win for Byron marked the 12th of his career and the 28th all-time on road courses for Hendrick Motorsports, which is the most of any other team.

“I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps, just micro-errors, and Christopher was really fast there on the longer run,” Byron said after the race. “This sport is so hard and so difficult week in and week out to show up and have fast cars. We’ve had a little bit of a rough stretch the last few weeks but put a lot of preparation in this past week and just thankful for the team I have around me and all the people back home as well.”

“Just super thankful to have this opportunity. It’s just a lot of fun to win races, and it’s really difficult, too.”

Christopher Bell was charging fast in the closing laps, making up four positions in the closing laps, and missing out on his second win of the season by a 0.692-second margin. With a win at Phoenix under his belt, he knew that it came down to a great road course battle between great drivers and great teams.

“Obviously, once I got to him, it was going to be tough to pass him, I just needed a couple mistakes, but William has been really good on the road courses and he was flawless today,” Bell said.

Bell’s teammate, Ty Gibbs, who is driving in his sophomore season, finished third as he continues to put on great results in his No. 54 Toyota. After another strong run, he sits second in the standings just five points behind teammate Martin Truex Jr.

“We were just a little too loose in the right-handed corner,” Gibbs said. “I just wish we were a little tighter, but we did a really good job today. Good points day. We’ll just keep working hard.”

Alex Bowman, Byron’s Hendrick teammate, finished in fourth, while last year’s COTA winner Tyler Reddick finished in fifth. AJ Allmendinger was sixth, followed by 2022 COTA winner Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr to round out the top ten.

New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen and Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi made their first Cup starts of the season as well, and it was a rough going for both drivers. SVG lost first gear of his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in the middle of the race and finished 20th. Kobayashi had a couple of run-ins during the race, including one with Ricky Stenhouse Jr and another with Josh Berry. He would finish 29th.

Justin Haley, who has been putting together solid performances lately for Rick Ware Racing, had his 11th-place finish disqualified for not meeting minimum post-race weights. The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to Richmond Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday Night at 7 pm EST.