Back-to-back victories propels 25-year-old William Byron to a guaranteed spot in this year’s NASCAR Playoffs.
The right pit stop call and execution on a pair of late-race restarts allowed Byron to seize the opportunity to pass teammate, Kyle Larson, in a green-white-checkered finish and follow up last week’s win at Las Vegas with another trip to victory lane. The bold move to take the lead nets Byron his sixth career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Larson led the 201 of the 317 laps and won Stage 2 while Byron was victorious in Stage 1. Ryan Blaney surged at the end to take the second position, Tyler Reddick came home third, Kyle Larson had to settle for fourth, while nine-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.
Arizona’s pair of home state heroes performed well on the afternoon as Glendale’s Michael McDowell earned his career best Phoenix finish crossing line in 13th place. Tucson’s Alex Bowman converted a few spots on the late restart and claimed his second career top-ten finish at Phoenix Raceway as he took the ninth position. Bowman is the current overall points leader while McDowell sits 16 points out of the final playoff spot four races into the season.
NASCAR returns to Phoenix Raceway to crown four NASCAR champions in three days from Nov. 3-5. For now, NASCAR returns to the east with a trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway March 17-19.
Devon Henry
