Before Sunday, William Byron had never before finished in a podium spot on an intermediate race track in his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Today, though, with the guidance of crew chief Rudy Fugle, Byron put the No. 24 car back in victory lane.
It came with the rainbow scheme, too.
The 23-year old lead 102 of the 267 laps in the race, establishing himself as the class of the field in the early parts of the second stage.
He won the one-lap Stage 2 shootout as well, giving him an extra playoff point along with the five he’ll get from the victory.
Behind Byron was a hard-charger in Tyler Reddick, who probably could have won the race had it lasted anywhere from seven to 15 laps longer.
Reddick is known for performing well at Homestead, but just hasn’t been able to close it out quite yet in the Cup Series.
He was disappointed in finishing second, his fourth career top five on tour and second consecutive type of finish at Homestead, but he’ll get more chances.
Kyle Larson established himself well, too, but was passed in the closing laps by Martin Truex Jr.
Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell has kept his dream season run going, taking P6 on Sunday in the No. 34 car in front of Ryan Newman, who utilized the long green-flag run at the end of today’s race.
Kyle Busch even salvaged a top 10 after saying, “We f—–g suck,” during his run through the field.
The series will return to the track next Sunday, going live from Las Vegas at 2:30 p.m. on FOX.
Dixie Vodka 400 Results
1. William Byron
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kyle Larson
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Michael McDowell
7. Ryan Newman
8. Kurt Busch
9. Alex Bowman
10. Kyle Busch
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Austin Dillon
13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14. Chase Elliott
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Brad Keselowski
17. Ross Chastain
18. Chase Briscoe
19. Chris Buescher
20. Christopher Bell
21. Ryan Preece
22. Bubba Wallace
23. Cole Custer
24. Anthony Alfredo
25. Joey Logano
26. Justin Haley
27. Erik Jones
28. Matt DiBenedetto
29. Ryan Blaney
30. Aric Almirola
31. Garrett Smithley
32. Cody Ware
33. Josh Bilicki
34. BJ McLeod
35. Quin Houff
36. Corey LaJoie
37. James Davison
38. Timmy Hill
