Nineteen-year-old William Byron won the Firecracker 250 Saturday, becoming the youngest winner in Xfinity Series history at Daytona International Speedway.
19-year-old William Byron wins Xfinity Series race at Daytona
The JR Motorsports driver is the youngest Xfinity Series race winner at Daytona International Speedway.
Byron was ahead of JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler on the second-to-last lap when a multi-car accident occurred on the backstretch, drawing the ninth and final caution of the afternoon. It was Byron’s second consecutive win and second overall in Xfinity, having taken the checkered flag last weekend at Iowa Speedway.
“This is so cool to win at Daytona,” Byron said. “I can’t even imagine it. ... We’re bringing faster cars, executing better and as a team we’re getting more and more confident.”
Video replays clearly showed the final accident happened before Byron crossed the line, but NASCAR didn’t put out the yellow flag until after Byron had passed the marker thereby making the race official. NASCAR instituted the overtime rule prior to the 2016 season to limit overtime restarts and prevent drivers from attempting to manipulate the finish for their benefit.
Despite being on the wrong side of the ruling, Sadler had no issue with NASCAR’s decision not to restart the race. Dakota Armstrong finished third, with Jeb Burton in fourth and David Star in fifth. The finishes for Armstrong, Burton and Star all represented a career best.
“I’m not going to nickel-and-dime NASCAR and the rule,” Sadler said.
The race originally started Friday night, but after 11 laps were completed rain forced NASCAR to postpone the race until Saturday. A second red flag occurred after an additional 26 laps had were run, with a third happening on Lap 100 for an 11-car accident, which set up the overtime finish.
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