Go Bowling at the Glen: William Byron claims his 5th win of the year

William Byron further cements his claim to the NASCAR Cup series title in 2023 by scoring his 5th win of the year at the Glen. 

Denny Hamlin started on pole for this race and led during the early laps, until Indianapolis winner Michael McDowell took the lead and ran on lap 4.

On lap 5, bubble driver Daniel Suarez half spun coming out of the bus stop, relegating him far down the order. Suarez is in a must win situation next weekend.

At the front of the pack, Michael McDowell drove away from 2nd place William Byron and scored his 2nd career stage win.

Stage One Results:

1. #34
2. #24
3. #11
4. #54
5. #16
6. #5
7. #20
8. #23
9. #8
10. #45

McDowell pit after the stage end, with Byron staying on the race track an extra lap. The #34 got out just ahead of the #11 but would be brought back to the pits for driving through too many boxes on entry to his pit stall, passing the lead over to the #24. 

Byron led from Hamlin with no issues to the end of the second stage of the race. 

Stage Two Results:

1. #24
2. #11
3. #54
4. #5
5. #16
6. #20
7. #9
8. #8
9. #23
10.  #3

During the final green flag pit cycle on lap 55, Chase Elliott would stumble and run out of fuel on the backstretch, coming to a stop in the bus stop and bringing out the first caution of the day. Elliott would need a push back to the pits and lost a lap in the process. The 2020 champion now needs to win at Daytona to make the playoffs. 

With 30 to go, the #24 and the #11 lined up side by side for the restart. Byron got the lead in turn 1, leaving Hamlin to fend off his teammate Christopher Bell. 

At 16 to go, Indy winner Michael McDowell would slow coming out of the carousel. He would bring it to pit road and wound up finishing 36th out of 36 starters. 

At the sharp end of the field, Hamlin had nothing for the #24 of Byron, who held a comfortable lead going into the last lap. The 50 time race winner would try to run down the Hendrick driver but to no avail. Byron claimed his 5th win of the year, his first since Atlanta, and in the shortest race in the modern era, clocking in at just under 2 hours for full distance.

Hamlin took 2nd, Bell in 3rd, Allmendinger in 4th and Gibbs in 5th, both of whom are now in must-win situations at Daytona. 

With Byron’s win, both Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski are now locked in to the playoffs and will compete for a championship in the postseason. 

Bubba Wallace, the driver currently in the 16th spot, finished 12th and has a 32 point cushion of 17th place Gibbs going in to the Daytona night race. And much like his Hendrick teammate, Alex Bowman needs to win at Daytona to make the playoffs.

Full race results:

Points standings:

Featured Image Credits: Hendrick Motorsports on Twitter