WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – After taking the lead early in stage two, William Byron never looked back and won at Watkins Glen International Sunday afternoon.
His margin over second-place Denny Hamlin was 2.632 seconds.
Byron led 65 of the final 67 laps on the day to capture the victory in the No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. In total, he led 66 laps in the race.
The triumph is his fifth of the 2023 season, which leads the NASCAR Cup Series. In addition, the 25-year-old driver picked up his series-best eighth-stage win of the season.
“It was awesome,” Byron said of the race. “It was a great Valvoline Chevy. I was able to do what I needed to do to build a little bit of a gap. Thanks to this whole team. It’s been a fun weekend. We’ve had a great car all weekend and just tried to execute a good race. Road courses haven’t been our strength as a group, but we’ve been working really hard at it. I’m really thankful for the whole group. I feel like this sets up well for the playoffs.”
There was one caution period for a total of four laps. All but five of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Stage 1 Winner: Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
SHR Race Finish:
- Ryan Preece (Started 30th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
- Kevin Harvick (Started 33rd, Finished 21st / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
- Aric Almirola (Started 27th, Finished 30th / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 26th, Finished 35th / Running, completed 83 of 90 laps)
Martin Truex Jr. remains the championship leader after Watkins Glen with a 39-point advantage over second-place Hamlin.
SHR Points:
- Kevin Harvick (10th with 693 points, 168 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (24th with 423 points, 438 out of first)
- Aric Almirola (25th with 413 points, 448 out of first)
- Chase Briscoe (31st with 324 points, 537 out of first)
“I think we’ll just look toward Darlington. Daytona kind of just is what it is,” said Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang. “You either come out rolling and have a chance or you don’t, so we’ll go down there and push as hard as we can and be ready for Darlington. We’ve been terrible on the road courses the last two weeks. The month before that, we did well. We had cars that were capable to run in the top five. As long as it’s an oval, we’ll be fine. I wish we could’ve won a race before now, but we’ve had our opportunities to win a few. We’ve struggled on the road courses, but other than that it’s been OK.” –
Harvick clinched his spot in the NASCAR Playoffs by virtue of William Byron’s victory in the Go Bowling at The Glen. With Harvick 10th in the point standings and Byron being a repeat winner in 2023, Harvick is assured of getting one of the final three spots in the 16-driver playoff field regardless of the outcome of the regular-season finale next week at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Tony Stewart, the “Stewart” in Stewart-Haas Racing, leads the NASCAR Cup Series in victories at Watkins Glen with five (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2009). He was one win shy of tying the series record for most road-course wins at a single track, a mark held by fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison at Riverside (Calif.) Raceway (1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, and 1981).
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, Aug. 26 at Daytona. The 160-lap race around the 2.5-mile oval begins at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
