DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With remote thunder lighting up the afternoon sky creating a surreal backdrop at Daytona International Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series normal season finale created its own typhoon on the 2.5-mile three-mile asphalt on Saturday night.
William Byron took credit for two periods of red flag (stopped race) due to impressive falls, Big One to win his first Cup race and win a 10-race playoff position against about 25,000 spectators.
“I’m incredibly blessed and it’s amazing,” Byron said. “It’s a tough year in the cup series and I’m looking to get my first win and win the ground with this team. These guys did a wonderful job and allowed us to get to the playoffs and it’s amazing.”
Byron’s joy was countered through a dark Jimmie Johnson, who was unable to qualify for the playoffs after getting stuck at the time of the massive fall of the first corner.
He finished 17th and was defeated in several problems through Matt DiBenedetto, who ranked 12th in ford Wood Brothers Racing No. 21.
“It’s too hectic,” said DiBenedetto, whose parents came from North Carolina to watch from the stands. “I’m mentally exhausted. I’m going to get a good night’s sleep tonight, but in the end a lot of things are happening.”
It’s the kind of drama nascar hoped to revel in when he moved the Daytona summer race from July 4 to the end of August.
Chase Elliott, who won the Daytona Road Course two weeks ago, finished second, followed by the winner of the 500 Miles of Daytona, Denny Hamlin.
Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace completed the five most sensible.
Johnson, who is a seven-time Cup Series champion, making his last inventory car race at Daytona, congratulated his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron for the win.
He was kind of a passing witness at Hfinishrick Motorsports. Johnson will leave the 48th Chevrolet at the end of the season, while former Johnson team leader Chad Knaus will go to the playoffs in search of a name with Byron, who drives the No. 24 car.
“I’m satisfied with those boys, ” said Johnson. “I think we can just show our way or win based on the first two stages of the race. Then things got ugly.
JOHNSON: Loss of playoffs, gives eighth record name in last season
The first 141 rounds of the planned 160 produced a flag festival interspersed between the expected periods of caution (festival, end of stages).
On lap 142, when James Davison and Brendan Gaughan had an incident on Turn 3, he opened the door to NASCAR’s Pandora box of breeding warnings at Daytona.
On lap 151, when the normal laps of the season were extinguished, rookie Tyler Reddick made an ambitious pass to race leader Kyle Busch, the champion of the protective series for his first 2020 win.
Unfortunately, when Reddick attempted to pass Busch, his production collided, sending Busch’s Toyota No. 18 against the wall of Turn 4, prompting a 10-car melee.
“It was a sliding task that went wrong,” Busch said.
Reddick apologized but said Daytona pulled out unforeseen demons at night.
“I tried to take the lead with about eight laps to go, and it didn’t happen as planned,” he said. “Unfortunately, it damages our car and our chances of winning.
“I was transparent for a moment when I went to do it, but it’s Daytona and things are quickly replaced. There weren’t many rounds left at the time, and you have to do what you can to win and get to the playoffs.” . “
Reddick, who came out of that published mess in the position at the moment in the Hamlin pass order, was pulled six laps later in a crushing 11 cars with sheet steel.
This Big One created through Joey Logano fighting for the lead of the first corner.
At that time, the race was heading for two more laps and was running to 164 laps. Several cars crashed on the last lap due to damage caused by the wreckage of the past.
The 16-driver playoff list ended when the checkered flag was shown for this crazy and dramatic event.
Byron and DiBenedetto were the benefactors, while Johnson, who will probably drive IndyCars and sports cars next season, has become the playoff guy.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s a race to the plate,” Johnson said. “We had a very smart car. For the past two months, we have combined and worked well. I’m disappointed I’m not in the playoffs. That was our purpose at the beginning of the year.”
Johnson failed to score problems in two races, which returned to hang out with him on Saturday night. His inventory car was disqualified after a race in Charlotte and then missed the race in Indianapolis after testing positive for COVID-19.
“We only missed the playoffs by six points,” he said. “I mean, my God. I’ll live off that. We did everything we could this year.
The seven Johnson Cup titles are tied for top titles in series history with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. His 83 career Cup victories are tied for sixth on the all-time list.
FREEDOM CONNECTION
Byron took the distance categories at Liberty University and the winning car was sponsored through the school. The deal was negotiated between Hendrick Motorsports and Jerry Falwell Jr., who resigned this week in a scandal at the helm of the university.
WALLACE’S REACTIONS
Wallace said before the race that there wasn’t much discussion among NASCAR drivers about the regular season finale of the Cup at Daytona.
NASCAR continued on its historic track while other sports postponed games and practices this week after the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, through a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“We still have a lot of paintings to do as a country to make things better for us, our next generation,” Wallace told NBC Sports before the race. “We don’t stick to movement (with other sports) doesn’t mean we’re retiring. We know what’s on our table or what’s on our plate to achieve and we check to achieve this position.”
Following
The playoffs start next Sunday at darlington Raceway.
Contribute: The Associated Press
Saturday from the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway (starting in parentheses):
1. (6) William Byron, Chevrolet, 164 laps, points.
2. (27) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 164, 35.
3. (10) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 164, 36.
4. (2) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 164, 42.
5. (21) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 164, 32.
6. (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 164, 40.
7. (8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 164, 30.
8. (40) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 164, 29.
9. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 164, 28.
10. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 164, 32.
11. (24) John H. Nemechek, Ford, 164, 26.
12. (15) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 164, 29.
13. (23) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 164, 30.
14. (26) Michael McDowell, Ford, 164, 26.
15. (32) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 164, 22.
16. (36) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 164, 0.
17. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 164, 32.
18. (5) Aric Almirola, Ford, 164, 19.
19. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 164, 26.
20. (1) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 164, 17.
21. (25) Corey Lajoie, Ford, Accident, 163, 16.
22. (29) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 163, 15.
23. (34) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 162, 14.
24. (35) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 161, 0.
25. (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 161, 12.
26. (30) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, accident, 159, 11.
27. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, accident, 158, 30.
28. (19) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, accident, 158, 9.
29. (18) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, accident, 158, 16.
30. (16) Cole Custer, Ford, accident, 158, 7.
31. (37) Joey Gase, Ford, 158, 0.
32. (31) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, accident, 155, 8.
33. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 152, 5.
34. (13) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, accident, 151, 10.
35. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, accident, 151, 11.
36. (22) Ryan Newman, Ford, Accident, 151, 1.
37. (28) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, accident, 151, 1.
38. (39) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 151, 0.
39. (38) James Davison, Ford, Accident, 139, 1.
40. (33) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, engine, 3, 0.
Career statistics
Career winner average: 153,748 mph.
Race time: 2 hours, 39 minutes, seconds.
Margin of Victory: .119 seconds.
Warning flags: 6 for 21 rounds.
Main changes: 35 drivers.
Round leaders: K.Harvick 0; M.Truex 1; K.Harvick 2-5; W. Byron 6; K.Harvick 7; W. Byron 8-21; A. Bowman 22; A.Almirola 23; W. Byron 24-28; E. Jones 29-33; W. Byron 34-35; J. Logano 36-51; R. Blaney 52; B.Keselowski 53; C. Bell 54-55; E. Jones 56-65; Ky.Busch 66-71; D.Suarez 72-90; J. Logano 91-101; M.Truex 102; K.Harvick 103; J. Logano 104-105; M.Truex 106-111; J. Logano 112; M.Truex 113-118; Ky.Busch 119-125; J. Logano 126-130; Mr. McDowell 131-132; Ky.Busch 133-150; Ku.Busch 151; D. Hamlin 152-155; T. Reddick 156; D. Hamlin 157; J. Logano 158; D. Hamlin 159-162; W. Byron 163-164
Leaders Summary (Pilote, Led Times, Led Tours): J. Logano, 6 times for 36 laps; Ky.Busch, 3 times for 31 laps; W. Byron, five times for two four laps; D.Suarez, 1 time for 1 nine rounds; E. Jones, twice for five laps; Mr. Truex, four times for four laps; D. Hamlin, 3 times for nine laps; K.Harvick, four times for 6 laps; C. Bell, once for 2 laps; Mr. McDowell, once for 2 laps; A. Blaney, once for 1 lap; A. Bowman, once for 1 lap; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 1 lap; A.Almirola, 1 time for 1 round; T.Reddick, once for 1 lap; Ku.Busch, once for 1 lap.
Wins: K.Harvick, 7; D. Hamlin, 6 years old; B.Keselowski, 3; J. Logano, 2; C. Elliott, 2; Mr. Truex, 1; R. Blaney, 1; A. Bowman, 1; A. Dillon, 1; C. Custer, 1; W. Byron 1.
Main topics in the normal season: 1. K.Harvick, 1041; 2. D. Hamlin, 907; 3. B.Keselowski, 881; 4. M.Truex, 845; 5. J. Logano, 836; 6. R. Blaney, 818; 7. C. Elliott, 809; 8. A.Almirola, 740; 9. Ky.Busch, 719; 10. Ku.Busch, 700; 11. Bowyer, 685; 12. A. Bowman, 662; 13. Mr. DiBenedetto, 637; 14. W. Byron, 632; 15. J. Johnson, 628; Array E. Jones, 582.