NASCAR Cup Texas: Byron passes Wallace late to secure Hendrick's 300th win

After watching his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Kyle Larson – who dominated most of the race – wreck out late, Byron got around Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe on a restart with five of 267 laps remaining to take the lead for the first time.

Erstwhile leader Wallace had chosen the outside lane for the final restart and got side-by-side with Briscoe, with Byron lined up behind the Stewart-Haas Ford. Briscoe edging Wallace's 23XI Toyota deeper to the outside opened the inside lane, which Byron exploited to pass both for the lead.

Byron then held off a late charge by Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Chevrolet), ultimately clearing him by 1.863 seconds to take his sixth win of the season and secure the milestone win for Hendrick, whose first Cup victory came in 1984 with Geoffrey Bodine.

The 25-year-old therefore advances to the semi-final round of the playoffs regardless of how he finishes in the next two races at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval, with seven more spots up for grabs.

Byron admitted that Larson "really deserved this one" and explained afterwards that he had found life tough in the cockpit in the heat.

He said: "It was awesome to get our car to the front, I loved clean air. We just fought through traffic all day and our [car] was just tight back in traffic but had good pace.

“This was one of those hot days, it felt like I was playing football and went through two-a-days, just wanted to quit.

"It was a grind it out day and our team was there at the end. I'm really proud of this one as hot as it was and as tough as it was.”

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, McDonald's Toyota Camry Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro (Photo by: Rachel Schuoler / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Second for Chastain marked a strong recovery after he'd stalled on pitroad, attributed to a throttle position sensor issue he'd already been struggling with, forcing him to fight back from being mired in the midfield.

Wallace ended up third, ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin.

Completing the top 10 were Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Briscoe.

Larson was classified 31st after his crash while duelling for the lead with Wallace. The 2021 Cup champion had led the field to the green following a caution caused by J.J. Yeley's crash at Turn 2 but Wallace drew alongside and raced him side-by-side when the back end of Larson’s car got loose, and he slammed into the Turn 1 wall.

While Larson was able to get his car back to pit road, the damage was not repairable, and he retired.

“With these cars, you normally don’t get sucked around like that, so I wasn’t really expecting that and thought that I would be fine,” he said after a result that dropped him to eighth in points. “I just lost it and crashed.”

With two races left in the Round of 12, the four drivers lowest in points without a win and in danger of elimination from the playoffs are Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Wallace, who is just two points behind the cutline.

“I just hate it,” lamented Wallace afterwards. “I should have just kept my line into (Turn) 3 and forced William to get tight. But we’re so vulnerable in these cars, right? Just upset with myself.

“Really needed a win there, and it was a good showing. I don’t know where that puts us. I don’t really care. But I know what I did, and I choked.”

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, McDonald's Toyota Camry, Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford Mustang, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro, and Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang (Photo by: Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Reddick had won an eventful Stage 1 after a late caution triggered when Busch spun and hit the wall with enough force to put him out of the race.

But Reddick and Erik Jones, who had finished second to Larson in Stage 2, hit the wall at the penultimate restart following Larson's crash, triggering a multi-car wreck that also collected A.J. Allmendinger, Blaney, Austin Cindric and Zane Smith.

NASCAR Cup Texas Race Results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	267	3:14'28.098		7	47
2	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	267	+1.863	1.863	8	38
3	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23		Toyota	267	+2.196	0.333	8	37
4	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	267	+2.468	0.272	8	41
5	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	267	+3.668	1.200	9	42
6	K. Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing	4		Ford	267	+3.943	0.275	8	31
7	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6		Ford	267	+4.318	0.375	9	34
8	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99		Chevrolet	267	+4.510	0.192	9	30
9	R. Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing	47		Chevrolet	267	+5.144	0.634	13	28
10	C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing	14		Ford	267	+5.658	0.514	7	30
11	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	267	+5.835	0.177	7	36
12	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	267	+5.916	0.081	11	25
13	J. Haley Kaulig Racing	31		Chevrolet	267	+6.112	0.196	10	24
14	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17		Ford	267	+6.302	0.190	8	38
15	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	267	+6.382	0.080	7	28
16	C. Hocevar Legacy Motor Club	42		Chevrolet	267	+6.522	0.140	10
17	M. Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	267	+6.548	0.026	12	20
18	A. Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing	10		Ford	267	+6.695	0.147	13	19
19	T. Dillon Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	267	+6.731	0.036	9	18
20	H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	267	+7.101	0.370	9	17
21	J. Logano Team Penske	22		Ford	267	+7.212	0.111	11	16
22	B. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports	78		Chevrolet	267	+7.463	0.251	10
23	R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing	41		Ford	267	+8.582	1.119	9	14
24	Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	267	+11.057	2.475	13
25	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45		Toyota	267	+21.824	10.767	9	22
26	C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	262	+5 Laps	5 Laps	10	11
27	A. Cindric Team Penske	2		Ford	261	+6 Laps	1 Lap	10	10	Accident
28	R. Blaney Team Penske	12		Ford	258	+9 Laps	3 Laps	9	20	Accident
29	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	255	+12 Laps	3 Laps	8	8	Accident
30	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43		Chevrolet	255	+12 Laps	1.705	8	16	Accident
31	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	248	+19 Laps	7 Laps	9	16	DVP
32	J. Yeley Rick Ware Racing	15		Ford	241	+26 Laps	7 Laps	9		Accident
33	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	77	+190 Laps	164 Laps	10	4	Accident
34	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8		Chevrolet	73	+194 Laps	4 Laps	4	3	DVP
35	T. Gilliland Rick Ware Racing	51		Ford	52	+215 Laps	21 Laps	3	2	Accident
36	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	40	+227 Laps	12 Laps	3	1	Accident
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