The No. 24 Nascar Next Gen Camaro ZL1 driven by William Byron took a risk in the last stage of Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway with sights on the win, but ultimately lost to the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry of Denny Hamlin.
Instead of pitting for fresher tires as the laps wound down, Byron paced the field on aging tires in hopes that they would maintain grip until the end. Unfortunately, this strategy didn’t pan out quite like the No. 24 Chevy team hoped, as fresher tires proved critical as the race neared completion. Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Toyota and last Richmond race winner, pitted long after Byron and began to reel in the No. 24 Camaro.
However, Truex’s No. 19 Toyota began to fall off in the last laps as his tires lost grip. Byron’s No. 24 Camaro suffered a similar fate, opening the door for eventual winner Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota. By the end of the race, Byron had 90 laps on his tires. For reference, Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota only ran 47 laps on his last set of tires. Second-place finisher Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Ford Mustang logged 48 laps with his. Byron’s No. 24 Chevy finished third, while Truex wheeled the No. 19 Toyota to a fourth-place finish. Defending Nascar Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Camaro, rounded out the top five.
“There at the end, when they told me I was just racing the 19 [Truex], I thought, ‘Ok, I got him,'” said Byron, who won at Las Vegas earlier this year, in a post-race interview. “But then the 4 [Harvick] and the 11 [Hamlin] were on a totally different planet. It’s just part of it. Different tire strategy.”
Polesitter Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford led 128 laps, but finished seventh. Byron’s no. 24 led 122 laps, while Truex in the No. 19 Toyota led 80 laps. Hamlin in the No. 11 led just five – the last five.
Currently, Blaney in the No. 12 Mustang leads the Nascar Cup Series championship, tied for points with the No. 9 Camaro of Chase Elliott. Truex in the No. 19 Toyota is third.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 400 | 5 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 400 | 122 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 400 | 80 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 21 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 9 | 20 | Christopher Bell | SiriusXM Toyota | 400 | 63 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 400 | 128 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 28 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Mars Crunchy Cookie Toyota | 400 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 4 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 16 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 19 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Violet Defense Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 15 | 9 | Chase Elliott | A SHOC Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Violet Defense Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | CommScope Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 399 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 17 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 20 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Discount Tire Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 12 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 5 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 30 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Chevyliners.com Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 22 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Black's Tire Ford | 397 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 29 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Dr Pepper Toyota | 397 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 26 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 32 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | SunnyD Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 36 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 24 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Navage Nasal Care Ford | 395 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Nations Guard Chevrolet | 392 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 23 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 390 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 35 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Nabor Force Ford | 390 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Surface Sunscreen/MaintenanceSupplies.com Ford | 386 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 35 | 27 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Embrace Home Loans Toyota | 291 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 33 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 241 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 37 | 44 | * Greg Biffle | Norfolk State University Chevrolet | 96 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
- * – Rookie
- i – Points ineligible
- * – Part-time driver
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