Byron Finishes 8th At Phoenix International Raceway

William Byron had an unremarkable, yet productive day at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, finishing in 8th place and putting him in 9th place in the points standings, which ties his previous best.

Byron started in a hole as it was announced the night before the race that he would have to start at the rear of the field for failing inspection. He forfeited his 10th place starting position but did not spend time in the back for very long.

Byron began stage one by shooting through the field into 20th place by the competition caution at lap 31. After moving his way further up the grid to 12th, crew chief Rudy Fugle elected to make a strategic move by pitting Byron under another caution flag with 29 laps to go in the stage. Byron lost seven spots to restart in 19th, but he quickly maneuvered his way to the front.

Byron drove up into the top 10 by the time there were 23 laps to go in the stage, and he gained a couple more spots into 8th place when there were 13 laps left. Byron finished stage one in 8th, earning two stage points.

After pitting under the stage break, Byron came out in 7th place. However, he fell back to 10th on the ensuing restart and would hang between 8th and 10th for much of the second stage.

He pitted from 9th position late in the stage, and a great pit stop gained Byron two more spots back up into 7th. He would finish stage two there earning three more stage points for a total of five on the day.

Byron restarted stage three in 9th after pitting but moved up as high as 6th. However, Byron seemed to hit a wall yet again and fell back as far as 10th. Byron would pit under a caution with 50 laps to go along with all the other leaders and ended up 7th on the ensuing restart.

Byron still moved no further up eventually falling back to 8th. After a hard battle with car 20 Christopher Bell, Byron held on to his 8th position and finished the race there.

Byron’s next race will be the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday at 3:00 PM ET on FOX. Atlanta is another track Byron has historically struggled at with an average finish of 22.7. His best finish at Atlanta is a 17th place run back in February of 2019.

Josh Lipowski is a Sports Reporter. Follow him on Instagram at @j_lipowski23.