NASCAR Chevy teams have swept all four races thus far in the 2023 Cup Series season, and William Byron’s No. 24 Camaro ZL1 has accounted for two of those victories. After winning last weekend’s race at Las Vegas, Byron once again guided the No. 24 Camaro through a series of late-race cautions to take his second win in a row at Phoenix on March 12th, 2023.
The early stages of the race were dominated by Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Camaro, who won the pole position and managed to stay ahead of the pack, though Byron’s No. 24 Camaro was never far behind. Then, in the latter stage of the race, the No. 4 Ford Mustang of Kevin Harvick emerged to take control, driving away with a huge lead before the No. 21 Mustang of Harrison Burton spun with 10 laps left. Harvick pitted for four fresh tires on his No. 4 Mustang, while Larson’s No. 5 Camaro and Byron’s No. 24 Camaro took just two tires.
The ensuing restart saw Larson and the No. 5 Camaro take the lead, but on Lap 310 of 312, a multicar incident unfolded on the backstretch. This forced a caution and the race went into NASCAR Overtime. Byron’s No. 24 Camaro grabbed the lead on the restart, leading the No. 12 Mustang of Ryan Blaney and the No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry of Tyler Reddick. Nobody could reel Byron’s No. 24 Camaro in, as Larson’s No. 5 NASCAR Chevy fell back to fourth, while Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang came home in fifth.
“Thanks to everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports, putting together great cars, doing a great job,” Byron said after the race. “This is a big credit to them, engine shop, [team owner Rick] Hendrick, everybody.”
It’s worth noting that Byron’s No. 24 Chevy, along with four other NASCAR Chevy teams, including the No. 5 Camaro of Larson, the No. 48 Camaro of Alex Bowman, the No. 9 Camaro of Josh Berry and the No. 31 Camaro of Justin Haley, all had the hood louvres of their race cars seized by NASCAR ahead of qualifying. No penalties have been announced at this time, and the sanctioning body has not stated why these parts were confiscated.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 24 | William Byron | Valvoline Chevrolet | 317 | 64 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Dent Wizard Ford | 317 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 12 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 317 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 317 | 201 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 15 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford | 317 | 36 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 317 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 24 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 317 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 9 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 18 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Best Friends Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 17 | 9 | Josh Berry(i) | Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 16 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 317 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 25 | 41 | Ryan Preece | United Rentals Ford | 317 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 7 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 317 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 19 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 317 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 15 | 21 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Socios Ford | 317 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 30 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BetMGM March Matchups Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 13 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 317 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 4 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol Edge Ford | 317 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Thomas' Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 22 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 10 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 317 | 14 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 11 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 317 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Shingrix Toyota | 317 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 24 | 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Kubota Chevrolet | 317 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 20 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 316 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 28 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | EnviroXstream Chevrolet | 316 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 26 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 316 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 14 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 316 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 32 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 316 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 35 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Mutoh Chevrolet | 315 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 34 | 38 | Zane Smith(i) | Wellcare Ford | 315 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 29 | 15 | Todd Gilliland | OTR Mobile Ford | 314 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 31 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Go Bowling Ford | 313 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Biohaven/Jacob Co Ford | 311 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 27 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 310 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 33 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Superior Logistics Services Chevrolet | 50 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Good race, great weather. A nice weekend get-away. On to Atlanta.