Once William Byron surged to the lead during green flag pit stops in Stage Two, he was unmatched the rest of the way at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l in the Go Bowling at The Glen.
The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet scored his series-leading fifth win of the year, more than doubling his NASCAR Cup Series career total entering the season (Four).
“Just really good strategy by those guys. Brandon McSwain on the box,” Byron said. “Those two guys work really well together, Ryan Kelly back at the shop. It was kind of like the old F-1 style, stay out, get clean air, get a good lap in, and we pitted there and got the lead, and it was kind of ours from there.
“Just really proud of the team. Really awesome to get a road course win.”
The victory at the 2.45-mile road course was Byron’s first on a road course after leading a race-high 66 laps.
“It feels really good, man. You know, just a huge credit to the race team behind me. I want to thank Max Papis,” Byron said. “This first road course win, we’ve worked years and years for this. Thanks to him. I know he’s watching back home.”
With the competition level so tight, Byron had to run mistake-free for the final 30 laps, as only one caution flag graced the seven-turn track during the 90-lap event.
The race ended after an hour and 58 minutes, the shortest Cup Series race (time-wise) in the modern era. The previous race to hold the record was in 2017 at Watkins Glen (two hours and seven minutes).
Polesitter Denny Hamlin could only watch the No. 24 bumper from a distance in the latter stages of the race, with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver having to settle for second.
Hamlin’s teammate Christopher Bell earned his second consecutive top-10 finish after finishing third.
While a victory would’ve sealed A.J. Allmendinger’s fate in the NASCAR Playoffs, the Kaulig Racing driver had to settle for fourth after starting seventh.
Rounding out the top-five was rookie Ty Gibbs, who is now 32 points below the cutline with one race remaining at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.
What Else Went Down
• Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Aric Almirola, Justin Haley and Cole Custer were sent to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.
• Hamlin led the opening laps until Michael McDowell took over on lap four.
• Daniel Suarez spun on lap five, tapping the inside guardrail out of the carousel. Suarez would continue without a caution flag.
• McDowell went on to win Stage One. The Front Row Motorsports driver’s chances of victory took a large hit after getting hit with a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes.
• With McDowell’s mistake, Byron would surge to the lead after green flag pit stops cycled through.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver eventually scored the Stage Two victory, which went caution-free.
• McDowell clawed his back to eighth position, though another penalty for a crew member jumping over the wall too soon bumped the No. 34 Ford back in the field again.
• Running inside the top-five, Kyle Larson’s bid for three consecutive wins at Watkins Glen was derailed after a speeding penalty during his green flag pit stop.
• The race’s first caution flag of the came on lap 55 due to Chase Elliott running out of fuel. Elliott stopped in the middle of the bus stop, forcing NASCAR to slow the field.
• The final restart came with 30 laps to go, with Byron surging ahead of the field.