William Byron walked away a winner after Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), fending off a charging Christopher Bell in the final 10 laps.
For Byron, his second victory of the young season and 12th overall in the Cup Series. Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team notably made the call to pit before the end of Stage 2, giving themselves better track position for the final stage. Denny Hamlin inherited the lead and won Stage 2, but Byron was the class of the field during the final stage.
Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday, Byron’s crew chief, Rudy Fugle, discussed how their pit strategy paid off at COTA.
“It was a pretty big discussion through the week for us,” Fugle said. “You know, I was kinda sitting on a two-stop strategy sort of like what [Christopher] Bell did, but pitting before the stages is generally the safe play. It generally gets you more track position and passing less cars. And either strategy, at some point you end up on older tires, so we went with the safer spot.
“The drivers wanna have fresher tires as much as they can. I know William was egging on for the three stop [and] it worked out for us. I think either one of them were pretty equal depending on how your car was. But yeah, it was really well executed by our team.”
Jeff Gordon gives high praise to William Byron after COTA win: ‘He’s so smooth’
Byron is the first repeat winner this season, something he’s done now three seasons in a row. He is the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1997-1999 to be the first repeat winner in three straight seasons, per Trey Ryan.
Gordon had high praise for Byron after the race.
“What a weekend for him [Byron],” Gordon told Regan Smith after the race. “He’s so smooth and just never put a foot wrong all weekend and that’s what it was going to take there at the end to beat [Christopher] Bell because Bell obviously had the fresher tires and had a fast race car and was coming hard. I was just keeping my fingers crossed, no cautions and no slips.
“William, just amazing job. The confidence that he and this team have, you’ve been seeing it these last couple of years. But to see them really get this season started off right with the Daytona 500 and now this big win. Yeah, they’re on their way to another great season. Couldn’t be more thankful for the hard work those guys are putting in.”
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