NASCAR had their “Throwback Weekend” at Darlington to celebrate 75 years of racing. William Byron was able to persevere in the Goodyear 400 to claim the win Sunday (5/14).
Martin Truex Jr. was the class of the field. In fact, he was kind of stinking up the show for the first half of the race. He started on the pole and was edged out of the lead on the first lap. However, he then took over the lead and held it for the next 137 laps. He won stage one of the race and led the most laps with 145 laps total out front.
It appeared that Ross Chastain was going to be the only car able to take the victory from Martin. Ross claimed the win in stage two and led a total of 93 laps, second highest in the race.
There was plenty of hard racing through the first two stages. However, other than the stage conclusions there was only a single caution period in those stages. One for fluid on the track in stage one.
Stage three had an increase in incidents with five caution periods. The final yellow flag was issued following a restart on lap 282. Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson came together racing from the front row and ended up wrecking and collecting seven other cars in the process. That allowed William Byron to take over the lead of the race.
By the time the crash was cleaned up from the track, the race would go into NASCAR Overtime of a “Green-White-Checkered” finish. William Byron started on the outside of row one with Kevin Harvick on the inside. William was able to clear Kevin coming out of turn two.
William was able to keep the lead through the last lap and a half to claim his first victory at Darling Raceway. The win is his seventh career win and his third of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. That win is also the 100th win for the #24 car in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Kevin Harvick took home the second-place finish with Chase Elliott claiming third. See the complete race results for the 2023 Goodyear 400 here.
Following Sunday’s race Ross Chastain remains the leader in the point standings. Christopher Bell remains in second-place. Kevin Harvick moves up to third-place. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.
The next stop for the drivers and teams is a step back in time. They are heading to the recently revived North Wilkesboro Speedway. They will not race for points or a championship. They will race for money and bragging rights in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Sunday, May 21st.
(Feature photo credit: YouTube)
By: Buck Stevens
