PHOENIX – After a two-tire call under the fourth caution flag in Sunday’s sold-out United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway, William Byron surged past Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson in overtime to win his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race.
His margin over second-place Ryan Blaney was .330 of a second.
Byron can thank Ford drivers Aric Almirola and Harrison Burton, who on successive weekends spun with a handful of laps left at Las Vegas and Phoenix, respectively, and gave Byron a chance to capitalize on the opportunity.
There were five caution periods for a total of 35 laps. Twenty-four of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
The race extended five laps past its scheduled 312-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
As a result, Byron had his second victory of the season and a guaranteed ticket into the Cup Series Playoff. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet won for the first time at Phoenix and for the sixth time in his career.
Alex Bowman leaves Phoenix as the championship leader with a three-point advantage over second-place Harvick.
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
SHR Race Finish:
- Kevin Harvick (Started 15th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 317 of 317 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 24th, Finished 7th / Running, completed 317 of 317 laps)
- Ryan Preece (Started 25th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 317 of 317 laps)
- Aric Almirola (Started 31st, Finished 33rd / Running, completed 313 of 317 laps)
SHR Points:
- Kevin Harvick (2nd with 151 points, 3 out of first)
- Chase Briscoe (25th with 59 points, 95 out of first)
- Aric Almirola (26th with 56 points, 98 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (27th with 54 points, 100 out of first)
Harvick earned his second top-five and third top-10 of the season. It was also his 20th top-five and 30th top-10 in 41 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix, all of which are the most among all NASCAR drivers, past and present.
“It’s what I would have done (taking four tires),’ said Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang “I’d always rather be on offense. I just didn’t get a couple of cars when that first caution came out. Kind of lost our chance. Still thought I had a chance there at the end. Those cars were quite a bit slower. They get all jammed up. That’s the way it goes. Just smoked ‘em up until the caution. They did a great job with our Hunter Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang. Didn’t need the caution at the end.”
This was Harvick’s third straight top-10. He finished fifth on Feb. 26 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and ninth last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has not finished outside of the top-12 this season.
This was Harvick’s 20th straight top-10 at Phoenix – a streak that began on Nov. 10, 2013 – and it extended his record for most consecutive top-10s at a single track. Next, best are NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, each of whom earned 18 straight top-10s at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.
Harvick finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points. He led once for 36 laps to increase his laps-led total at Phoenix to a series-best 1,699.
Harvick has now led 11,528 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,943 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.
Briscoe earned his first top-10 of the season and his third top-10 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.
This was Briscoe’s third straight top-10 at Phoenix. He won this race last year and finished fourth in the series returning to the track in November.
Briscoe finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn a bonus point.
“I think we, overall, had a pretty strong and solid day,’ said Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang. “Starting that far back in the pack, it just takes forever to get up there. I thought my car was good enough – if you would’ve put it in the lead, I would’ve been fine staying there – but it was just a matter of getting up there. It takes a long time. It’s like every green flag run you pick up three or four (positions), at every pit stop you maybe get one, and at the restart, you get one. It just takes forever to get up there when you start 24th. I thought we ran it pretty well as a complete race. On that second-to-last restart, I think we could’ve done a better job and been in a little bit better position. Overall, we really needed that type of run. We were fast all day and not scratching our heads. Hopefully, we can build on this.”
Preece’s 12th-place finish bettered his previous best result at Phoenix – 18th, earned in March 2020.
“From how we were in practice to how we raced today, that was pretty much like a win for us. We now have something we can build on,’ said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang. I feel like where we were all day today was just a few adjustments away from where I need to be and where I’m happy with the car. We had a top-10 car, we just needed some adjustments that I don’t think we were going to be able to do on a pit stop. Thank you to United Rentals for the support this weekend and I’m looking forward to getting to Atlanta and keeping things moving in the right direction.”
Almirola suffered a broken right-front wheel on lap 139 that sent him into the front stretch wall. While he was able to continue in the race, the repairs to fix the damage put him four laps down.
“We were honestly a top-six car today,” said Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang. I wish we were up there at the end running for the lead because that’s where we were meant to be. We had lap times similar to the leaders all day and were making our way up there fast. The adjustments we made overnight were exactly what we needed, so that’s a positive out of another unlucky day. I never felt the wheel lose or anything. It just took off on me and sent me into the wall. There’s a lot of racing left to do before we come back here. I’m actually really proud of the improvements that we’re making from last year. Our finishes just don’t show it yet. We know we can compete up there and we will soon.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
