Methodical ‘Dega Race Locks Byron Into Round Of 8

William Byron clinched a spot in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. (Matthew Thacker/NKP photo)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – William Byron fell .027 seconds shy of scoring his fourth NASCAR Cup Series win this season in a three-wide overtime thriller at Talladega Superspeedway, but still ended up with a result that was just as valuable.

In what was a true battle for survival Sunday at the 2.66-mile oval, a podium finish was more than enough for Byron to escape as the only Cup Series playoff contender locked into the Round of 8.

In the two-lap dash to decide the winner of the YellaWood 500, Byron positioned his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 perfectly for a shot at his first Talladega victory. Lined up on the outside of the second row, with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson to the left and directly behind two-time superspeedway winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the reigning Daytona 500 champion played his cards wisely following a masterfully choreographed race.

Recognizing he was one of only four playoff drivers to make it through a record-setting 28-car pileup unscathed just before the overtime finish, Byron stayed committed to the rear bumper of Stenhouse’s No. 47 until clearing the tri-oval, then peeked to his outside coming to the checkered flag.

His run of momentum came a little too late, however, and Byron had to settle for a third-place finish behind race winner Stenhouse and Brad Keselowski, who missed out on the win by .006 seconds to the JTG Daugherty Racing Chevy.

“I didn’t have a chance to get the lead myself on the last lap, so [staying clean] was the thought process,” Byron said. “I just couldn’t quite get him clear into (turn) three. And then, I just kind of had to be diligent to push him the rest of the way. I felt like it all worked out.

“I’m happy for Ricky and everyone at Chevrolet. They deserve it. Ricky is a really good drafter.”

Byron was the top-ranked driver in the Round of 12 entering the greatest wild card of the postseason, sitting comfortably above the cutoff by 34 points.

He began the day holding his breath, however, after fellow playoff driver Daniel Suarez spun down the track right in front of him on lap 16, as Suarez was in the process of being lapped by the field following a pass-through penalty at the green flag and tried to force himself in line.

Instead, Suarez was turned off the nose of B.J. McLeod’s No. 78 and into the outside wall, forcing Byron to take quick evasive action.

From there, Byron hung around 25th for a majority of stage one – dipping as low as 32nd at the halfway point of the 60-lap segment – before making a gutsy lane change from the top lane to the middle with five to go to finish the first green-and-white-checkered flag in third.

On top of successfully executing on two green-flag pit cycles in stage two, he maintained pace inside the top 10 and rounded out a much steadier segment with another top-five stage finish.

Going into the playoffs, Byron had been vocal about the emphasis he and the team had to put into stage racing, given their struggles in that department during the middle portion of the regular season. The mindset paid off Sunday, as not only did they score the most stage points at Talladega with 14, they’ve amassed the most in the Round of 12 through two races with 31, which helped propel them to an early berth in the next round.

Thanks to a meticulously orchestrated afternoon by crew chief Rudy Fugle, combined with spotter Branden Lines’ ability to navigate the 26-year-old through a series of close calls and high-speed traffic, they became the only team that can breathe easy heading to the second elimination race of this year’s postseason.

Byron leaves Talladega 74 points above the playoff bubble, but more importantly, 61 points clear of his teammate Chase Elliott in eighth place – exactly the margin needed to clinch advancement a race early in a given round, with how the math of the win-and-in format plays out.

That means Byron has breathing room heading into the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL, where he can focus solely on scoring his second road-course win of the season, while the other 11 playoff drivers have to sweat out an elimination race.

The Bank of America ROVAL 400 is slated for Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.