William Byron Sweeps COTA Crown as He Edges Past Entire NASCAR Grid With Next-Gen Record

If it were the Toyotas that reigned supreme in Bristol and Phoenix, the Chevys have made a strong comeback at the 3.41-mile road course in Austin, with Hendrick Motorsports‘ William Byron clinching his second win of the season. Even before the race unraveled, Byron had his grip on the race, figuring out the track and getting its number, grabbing the pole for the second consecutive time, just like he did last year.

William Byron gets a thumping win to register his second win of the season at COTA

It was a good day for Chevy, which has half of the top 10. Byron‘s COTA win has set the driver on a different course now as he has taken over the road course expert tag from his teammate, Chase Elliott, who finished 16th. While the driver took the checkered flag at Daytona in the final lap under caution, that was simply not the case in COTA. Here at the 3.41-mile track, it was Byron’s show at full swing when he nabbed the second win of 2024 under full throttle.

The 26-year-old started from the front at pole position and delivered a dominant performance in NASCAR’s first road course race of the season. The former iRacing driver led 42 of 68 laps and built the big lead he needed to fend off a hard-charging run from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell over the final two laps, sounding the alarm and letting the world know his skill as a driver, showing his versatility.

In fact, it was good hunting for the #24 driver, who now has two wins under his belt, a secured playoff berth, and a massive Next-Gen record to his name. The 26-year-old, with his latest COTA triumph, now has 10 wins, all coming in the Next-Gen era, something no other champion or driver in the sport today has accomplished.

Byron lauds C.Bell for his high-spirited late charge

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Much like the extended practice and the qualifying run, the race was also a proving ground for Byron who came on top after the high-speed, high-stakes road racing action, leading five times for 42 of the 68 laps on his way to his second win of the 2024 season. This landslide win marks the 12th career win for the 26-year-old. Byron and his HMS teammate Kyle Larson have now racked up three wins off of the season’s first six races.

Even though Ross Chastain took the lead from Byron in the final stage, the #24 driver reclaimed the top position towards the end of the race. However, if anyone made him break a sweat then it would be JGR’s C.Bell. In fact, Bell shaved nearly three seconds off Byron’s lead to create some late drama before Byron sealed the deal in the final corners.

Reflecting on the #20’s run, he said, “I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps. Just little micro-errors, Christopher was really fast there on the longer runs. But this sport is just so hard. It’s so difficult to week-in and week-out show up and have fast cars. We’ve had a little bit of a rough stretch the last few weeks but put a lot of prep work in this week, and just thankful for the team I have around me, all the people back home as well. Just super thankful for having this opportunity.” 

READ MORE: NASCAR Turns a Deaf Ear to Chase Elliott’s Desperate Penalty Plea Despite “Data” to Back Unintentional COTA Claims