Long shot William Byron prevails at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his second Cup victory in 111 starts

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HOMESTEAD, Florida – After years of seeing a handful of drivers – the same guys, indeed – dominate the top NASCAR level almost every week, the Cup Series faces a small parity to start the season.

It is a welcome show for some. Others hope it’s a passing moment.

William Byron was the third surprise winner of three races this season, with his victory Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Byron has joined Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell as winners unlikely to start this season.

Byron controlled most of the last two stages at Homestead to win for the second time in the 111 Cup start. His first came to Daytona in August last year and brought him one of the last places in the playoffs.

Nobody saw him coming. Few had him on the radar.

Byron entered the weekend as a 28-1 shot to win a race that many expected to provide a return to normal for the racing series. Instead, McDowell and Bell have company in a relatively strange group of 2021 winners and drivers who have blocked the postseason.

“A lot of people have obviously made some good decisions about how to improve,” said 2017 series champion Martin Truex Jr. “The box we have to work on is so small … the rules are the rules and they haven’t changed in a while. The smaller teams are catching up. “

Truex quickly pointed out that he still believes that top teams – heavyweights like him, so to speak – will find their way back to the top sooner rather than later.

But the first three races offered a lot of moments to raise the eyebrows. Tyler Reddick was second Sunday, almost three seconds behind Byron. McDowell had his third consecutive final in the top 10. Chris Buescher ran ahead for the first part of the race.

“It certainly narrowed the gap,” McDowell said.

McDowell and Bell were winners for the first time at the start of the season. This rare race has already strengthened the playoff race in less than a month in the long NASCAR season. A win wins an automatic berth and it is unusual to have multiple winners who are unique in one season.

Few could have predicted that this trio would have taken over some of NASCAR’s top teams. Kyle Busch, a two-time defending champion, is currently in the bottom 16, as are Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola – all playoff qualifiers a year ago.

Byron hardly qualifies as shocking as the two, because he leads the famous no. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports. But he hadn’t been exactly a regular on the victory line either.

Again, Hendrick felt he could have something important this season, since he reunited with former crew chief Rudy Fugle.

“The guy has been huge for my career,” Byron said. “He’s the reason I’m here and I’m glad I was able to catch him … We really think the same.”

They had their best year together, leading the Truck series for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2016, even winning at Homestead.

When former Byron crew chief Chad Knaus moved to Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick hired Fugle and paired him with Byron. It was a rare move for Hendrick, who usually takes care of his crew chiefs within the organization.

Fugle spent eight years at KBM and led the truck program to two driver championships and five home titles. His trucks won 28 races, seven with Byron at the wheel.

“He knows how to push my buttons and motivate me,” Byron said. “Obviously, you have to support it with results. The results come when you have such people to work with.”

Buescher dominated the race early, winning the first stage (the second victory of his career stage). The Roush Fenway Racing driver drove five times for a total of 57 laps, but began to fade “as the sunset approached”. Buescher dropped from six to 23 after a restart at the start of the final stage.

“It’s a step in the right direction for us,” Buescher said.

Byron took the lead there and left some of the biggest names playing last for the first time in years.

“It’s hard because you can’t do much right now,” Truex said.

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