No one wants a NASCAR race to finish under caution and definitely not the Daytona 500. But sometimes, it’s necessary, and that’s exactly what happened Monday night at the end of the rain-delayed 2024 Daytona 500 when William Byron took the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway.
Finishing a race under caution — when the yellow flag is out and yellow lights are flashing — is hardly ideal because drivers aren’t actually racing. They’re maintaining their track positions and driving at a slowed, set pace, which doesn’t produce thrilling finishes.
But fans may want to know how and why NASCAR reached the decision to throw the caution flag at the end of Monday’s Daytona 500.
Here’s what happened: With a little more than one lap to go in the 200-lap race, Byron was leading the field on the inside lane ahead of Austin Cindric with Ross Chastain leading the outside lane. When Byron moved up to the outside lane, Chastain and Cindric made contact, which sent them both sliding off the track.
Unscathed, Byron and teammate Alex Bowman continued in the outside lane and crossed the start-finish line as the white flag was waving, signaling the last lap. But because of the crash, NASCAR threw the caution.
And because the caution came out after the last-lap white flag, and because Byron was the leader at the time of the yellow flag, he would be declared the winner once he completed the final caution lap.
A race he'll never forget! @WilliamByron is a #DAYTONA500 Champion! pic.twitter.com/TRAPvHjZni
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2024
Though Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet edged out Bowman’s No. 48 at the time of the caution flag, it was close.
So how did NASCAR officials come to this decision? NASCAR senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, explained what factors were taken into consideration. He said, via NASCAR.com:
“At the end of a race, we use all available resources. So we’ll use [the time the] caution comes out. We’ll use video, timestamps. At the time of caution, it was the 24 [car] over the 48 [car].
“Obviously, we would love to have left it green and let it finish naturally. But once the [No.] 2 car had spun and started back up the race track and was going to be into traffic and oncoming traffic there, there was no choice but to throw the caution at that time.”
As Sawyer noted, the race likely would have continued under green if not for Cindric in the No. 2 Ford sliding back up the track into oncoming traffic. Understandably, that situation was dangerous, and NASCAR had throw the yellow flag.
After taking the white flag, @WilliamByron was the leader at the time of the final caution.
This photo was used to determine the finishing order and Byron's victory in the #DAYTONA500. pic.twitter.com/b0d0UfRaLN
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2024
