After 68 laps of 20 twists and turns, William Byron became the first driver to win multiple races in a season for the third season in a row (@wideworldofdirt on Twitter). It was quite the dominant weekend for Byron who topped the charts in practice and earned pole position with a 129.636 lap time.
Trouble struck early for the 23 of Bubba Wallace who had to pit on lap one for bent steering. The same misfortune struck Martin Truex Jr. who had a tire puncture.
Track limits were the theme of the weekend after Truck and Xfinity drivers alike were forced to serve penalties for cutting said limits. The theme continued into Sunday when John Hunter Nemechek was forced to serve a pass-through for cutting turn 4 on lap six.
Five laps later, Chase Briscoe did the same exact thing. As the stage came to a close, drivers began to take green flag pit stops which cycled Christopher Bell to the front. He, alongside seven others, did not pit. Bell earned the stage victory.
Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell led the field to green on lap 19 which lasted a single lap before Byron found his way back up front. Daniel Suárez and Bell took their first pit stops of the day on lap 23, but Suárez was penalized for speeding.
One lap later, Shane van Gisbergen decided to pit but was also hit with a speeding penalty. As the field began to complete another green flag pit cycle, Denny Hamlin took the lead and earned the stage 2 victory.
At the stage break, Michael McDowell was forced to pit before pit road opened to fix some steering issues. The restart saw William Byron and 2022 winner Ross Chastain up front. There was a tight battle between Byron and Ty Gibbs at the beginning of the stage with Chastain holding them off for the lead.
On lap 40, Chase Elliott was forced to serve a pass-through penalty for cutting turn 4. A lap later, Kyle Busch was spun out after some contact with former teammate Bell. By lap 44, Byron finally took the lead back from Chastain.
A lap later, both Byron and Chastain made their final pit stop of the day. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. found himself serving a track-limit penalty after cutting that pesky turn 4. At lap 51, the field had made it through the green flag pit cycle with Byron coming back out on top.
The tight battle between Byron, Bell, and Gibbs continued for the final ten laps of the race, but Byron was able to hold them off for the victory. After their 1-2-3 finish, it was the 48 of Alex Bowman and 45 of 2023 winner Tyler Reddick rounding out the top-five.
The 2024 season continues Easter Sunday, March 31st, at Richmond Raceway.
Featured photo from Brittney Wilbur – NASCAR.com
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