Byron Finishes Eight At Vegas Motor Speedway

William Byron rode the momentum of his big win at Homestead to a solid run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The day had its ups and downs, but Byron was able to earn an eighth-place finish with 25 laps led in the afternoon. 

Byron started the race on the outside of the front row and wasted no time getting to the front of the pack. He took the lead on the first lap and held it for the first 19 laps before losing it to teammate Chase Elliott. 

After a competition caution on lap 25, Byron lost three spots on pit road, forcing him to restart on the outside of row four. After another caution on lap 47 due to debris, Byron gained nothing on track, so Rudy Fugle elected to pit Byron for four tires and fuel. Byron used the fresh tires to his advantage, moving up to seventh from his 12th-place restart position to finish stage one. 

Byron started stage two on the outside of row four, but methodically moved his way up to the lead by lap 124. Byron pitted under green with the lead with 32 laps to go, but he cycled out in fifth due to pitting later than everyone else. Byron was able to move up one spot to fourth, however, to finish stage two. 

Byron started stage three with a frustrating mistake, stalling as he came out of pit road during the stage break. The mistake cost Byron seven spots on track, falling all the way back to 11th. Byron held on, however, driving all the way up to sixth place before a caution flag with 88 laps to go for an accident involving Aric Almirola. 

Fugle elected to have Byron stay out on older tires for track position, and Byron would restart on the outside of row 2. Due to the old tires, Byron slowly faded back to seventh and then eighth after the final pit stop of the race, where he would finish the race.  

The Cup Series tour rolls on to the Phoenix Raceway this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on FOX. Phoenix is another track that Byron has historically struggled at with an average finish of 16.2. However, he does have two straight top-10 finishes at Phoenix, and will look to turn his fortunes around similar to what he has done the last couple weeks at Homestead and Las Vegas. 

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