William Byron only led seven laps in the No. 24 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 on his way to victory at Darlington Raceway on May 14th, 2023, but they were the only laps that mattered as he took control of the field and didn’t look back despite a late-race Overtime restart.
Byron guided the No. 24 Camaro ahead of the No. 4 Ford Mustang of Kevin Harvick when the green flag dropped for the final time on the race, but thanks to front-end damage sustained in a wreck, the No. 4 Mustang didn’t have anything for the No. 24 Camaro. Byron crossed the finish line .781 seconds ahead of Harvick.
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” said Byron. “My granddad passed away on Thursday, and just, man, I wish my family could be here. Just things have a way of working out, honestly. It just worked out that way today. We didn’t have the best third stage. We just kept battling, and things just kind of come back around.”
He added, “Definitely didn’t expect this. But just thankful for a great team, and, yeah, just things have a way of working out, and to come back here to Darlington and have it go exactly the other way.
Byron’s No. 24 Camaro assumed the lead after two NASCAR Chevy teams tangled for the top spot with about 10 laps left on the board. Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Camaro, and Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Camaro, restarted on the front row after a massive wreck on Lap 281 of 295. Chastain threw the No. 1 Camaro hard into Turn 1, chasing his race car high up the racetrack and striking the No. 5 Camaro of Larson. Both NASCAR Chevy racers ended up wrecking as a result of the contact.
“How does that make any sense, running us into the fence?” said Cliff Daniels, crew chief for the No. 5 Camaro team, on the radio. “That’s three races [Chastain] has taken us out of.”
Chastain explained his side of the incident. “Full commit into Turn 1” he said. “I got really tight and drove up and turned myself. I wanted to squeeze him. I wanted to push him up. We’d been racing back and forth all day. But I definitely didn’t want to turn myself.”
It’s worth noting that Chastain was also involved in an altercation with a different NASCAR Chevy driver last weekend at Kansas.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Throwback Chevrolet | 295 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 20 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | SunnyD Ford | 295 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 21 | 9 | Chase Elliott | LLumar Throwback Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol GTX Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Dr Pepper Toyota | 295 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 14 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 12 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lucas Oil Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 22 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 11 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 295 | 4 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 27 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 24 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Serial1.com E-Bikes Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Federal Express Toyota | 295 | 9 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 3 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Country Crock Chevrolet | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 14 | 16 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 15 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | United Rentals Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 13 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Shriners Children's Toyota | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 31 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 15 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 25 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Throwback Chevrolet | 295 | 29 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 17 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 295 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 9 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Forward Together Toyota | 295 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 30 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors Chevrolet | 294 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 34 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 29 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Honest Charley Speed Shop Chevrolet | 293 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 26 | 51 | Ryan Newman | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 291 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 5 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express/UPS Chevrolet | 287 | 93 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 23 | 48 | Josh Berry(i) | Ally Throwback Chevrolet | 286 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 280 | 145 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 32 | 35 | 78 | BJ McLeod | The Daily Down Force Chevrolet | 226 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 19 | 34 | Michael McDowell | StageFront.VIP Ford | 200 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 6 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Quaker State Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 36 | 15 | Brennan Poole(i) | Macc Door Systems Ford | 39 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
The whole Nascar group of drivers need to wreck Chastain every race he enters in! Take him out in the first 10 laps and retire him early, and I do mean permanently! Black ball him or whatever you want to call it. The sport isn’t all about him.
how come when DAEL ERNHERT does it it’s the best thing ever, but when Chastain bumps someone it’s the worst thing ever lmfao
Lots of people hated Dale Earnhardt for his aggressive driving. Guess you don’t remember him getting booed at Bristol and it looked like he was going to cry. I know because I was there. His stupid driving is what got him killed. He paid the ultimate price for being a jerk.
Bro i was born the year earmhardt died so no I do not remember that lol. I get a kick out of Chastain. The sport needs aggressive guys like him and KFB to keep things interesting
The No. 1 driver is a turd. Had he raced Larson clean. He would have had a 50-50 chance to win. I look forward to seeing other drivers taking him out.
He even did the same sort of thing to Truex earlier in the race…