In many ways, William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports group were the team of the day at Michigan International Speedway. Byron led a race-high 98 of 200 laps, won a stage, set the Xfinity Fastest Lap with a 37.30s trip around the two-mile oval and led in the closing stages of the race.
But in the end, there was something the No. 24 team didn’t execute as well as its rivals – fuel management – and it made all the difference.
Byron spent the bulk of Sunday’s final run in the shadow of Carson Hocevar, who led from laps 151 through 181 as he chased his first Cup win. But when Hocevar suffered an ill-timed flat tire, it was Byron that shot to the front.
From there, the two-time Championship 4 qualifier set the pace, but a challenge arose from behind, with Denny Hamlin chasing the North Carolinian down to challenge for the top spot.
With four laps to go, Hamlin prevailed. After a multi-lap battle with Byron, the Virginian finally snuck past with four laps to go and marched off to a victory in his 701st start.
Byron was forced to fight for second from there, defending against a hard-charging Chris Buescher. It was a disappointing result, but one the Daytona 500 winner could benefit from with the points haul.
