Field Level Media
25 Sep 2023, 09:40 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)
William Byron passed Bubba Wallace in a six-lap shootout in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, winning Sunday's opening race of NASCAR's Round of 12 playoff at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Byron's sixth win of 2023 secured the No. 24 driver a spot in the Round of 8. It was the 10th of his career.
The victory was the 300th for Hendrick Motorsports -- the most by any team in NASCAR history.
Rounding out the top-five finishers were Ross Chastain, Wallace, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin.
Leader Kyle Larson lost the air of his Chevrolet and crashed while racing door-to-door with Wallace inside the final 20 laps and finished 31st.
Playoff competitor Kyle Busch spun by himself and finished 34th, leaving him in last place of the 12 championship-seeking drivers.
Following his second career pole-winning starting spot, Wallace guided the field for most of Stage 1, which included the first caution period when Austin Dillon crashed Lap 42.
Disaster struck at the 1.5-mile slick speedway in the laps approaching the end of the 80-circuit segment.
Busch lost control of his No. 8 Chevrolet entering Turn 1 for the race's fourth caution -- driving it backwards on the apron over half a lap back to the pits.
After receiving pit service during the caution period, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs made major contact on pit road.
A third JGR car, Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 19 Toyota, was then hit from behind after Stage 1 soon came to an end.
The segment's bonus points went to Tyler Reddick, the defending race winner who stayed out earlier for track position while the front of the field pitted.
With just over 20 laps left in Stage 2, Larson maneuvered his No. 5 Chevrolet past Wallace on Lap 143 and raced on to the bonus points.
Larson used the point position and its clean air to set a very quick pace around TMS, which was hosting just one event for the third consecutive season.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver had a six-second lead when Daniel Suarez spun into the grass with 59 laps left.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Austin Globe news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Austin Globe.
More InformationPhoenix, Arizona: On November 24, Arizona state troopers said an escaped bull was seen wandering on a Phoenix freeway, but ...
Israel and Hamas say they have agreed to extend their truce for one more day.The Israel Defense Forces tweeted in ...
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's outgoing president has approved a 20% increase in defense spending through the end of next year, ...
Towards the end of Archie, a new four-part ITV drama about the life of Cary Grant, the actor (played at ...
Paul Whelan has been injured in a fight with a Turkish national in a penal colony machine roomFormer US Marine ...
Berlin is abandoning its own national interests in order to satisfy the whims of its ?allies,? the Russian President has ...
(Photo credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports) Khalif Battle scored 21 points off the bench and Arkansas put together a much-needed ...
(Photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports) Andrew Rohde scored 13 points to lead a balanced offensive attack, but it was ...
(Photo credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports) Kawhi Leonard went for a team-high 34 points, James Harden led a 3-point barrage ...
(Photo credit: Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK) Maddy Westbeld scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as No. ...
(Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports) The Dallas Stars will look to continue their road-warrior ways when they complete ...
(Photo credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports) The Atlanta Hawks look to get back on the winning track as they continue ...