Strategy was the name of the game in Sunday’s short track fiesta at Iowa Speedway. Nursing his final tank for 144 laps, William Byron sealed his second win of the season, pulling off a masterclass in fuel strategy to outlast pole sitter Chase Briscoe and 2012 Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski.
In a race that ran caution-free for the first 170 laps before descending into a flurry of yellow flags later on, the Charlottean had to adapt and manage fuel while defending his lead during the final green flag run. There were 12 cautions in the race, tying with the season’s highest cautions.
This opened the door for several strategies from different teams, but Byron remained undeterred and rode off into the night with a solid win.
William Byron Puts On a Fuel Mileage Clinic at Iowa
The brutal nature of NASCAR’s Next-Gen car struck again at the 0.875-mile track, as pole sitter Briscoe failed to capture the win. In the next-gen car, no driver has managed to win a short track race from the pole, and on Sunday, the Hoosier became the latest to experience that reality.
Meanwhile, for Byron, who lost a race at Michigan two months prior after his No. 24 Chevrolet ran out of fuel, it was a moment of redemption. The 27-year-old led a race-high 141 laps of the total 350 while the Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 driver racked up his third runner-up finish in the past four races after his fifth pole position.
“Honestly, felt like we had a good car and just kind of raced it and just tried to be there at the end, and we were,” Byron said, after his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy sputtered out of fuel during his customary burnout. “Luckily, the fuel was enough at the end. I think I ran out right there, that’s why I stopped.”
Byron then poked fun during his victory lane interview with NASCAR NBC pit reporter Marty Snider and credited his crew for their effort. He said, “How about that for some fuel mileage? We’ve had our fair share of things not go our way with fuel mileage.”
He added, “Super thankful for Rudy and all these guys, the engineers back at the shop. We’ve been through a lot this year. There’s been a lot of growing pains. It’s been tough on us, but it feels really good today to get a win.”
Keselowski stood out early among the evening’s standout performances, winning Stage 1 and 2. The veteran led 68 laps and momentarily looked like he would break his slump until Byron got back the lead in the closing, dashing the RFK Racing owner/driver’s dreams of a long-awaited win.
Race Results:
Stage 1: Brad Keselowski
Stage 2: Brad Keselowski
| Fin | Car | Driver | Laps | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) | 350 | — |
| 2 | 19 | Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing) | 350 | 1.192 |
| 3 | 6 | Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing) | 350 | 1.378 |
| 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) | 350 | 1.499 |
| 5 | 60 | Ryan Preece (RFK Racing) | 350 | 4.199 |
| 6 | 23 | Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) | 350 | 5.490 |
| 7 | 48 | Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports) | 350 | 6.763 |
| 8 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports) | 350 | 7.263 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano (Team Penske) | 350 | 7.465 |
| 10 | 3 | Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) | 350 | 7.681 |
| 11 | 1 | Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) | 350 | 8.406 |
| 12 | 2 | Austin Cindric (Team Cindric) | 350 | 8.678 |
| 13 | 21 | Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing) | 350 | 10.064 |
| 14 | 9 | Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports) | 350 | 12.214 |
| 15 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club) | 350 | 12.778 |
| 16 | 43 | Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club) | 350 | 13.039 |
| 17 | 20 | Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) | 350 | 13.172 |
| 18 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) | 350 | 13.354 |
| 19 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) | 350 | 13.384 |
| 20 | 8 | Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing) | 350 | 15.405 |
| 21 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing) | 350 | 15.815 |
| 22 | 17 | Chris Buescher (RFK Racing) | 350 | 15.815 |
| 23 | 7 | Justin Haley (Spire Motorsports) | 350 | 17.373 |
| 24 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) | 350 | 18.111 |
| 25 | 99 | Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing) | 350 | 18.833 |
| 26 | 41 | Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team) | 350 | 19.008 |
| 27 | 71 | Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports) | 350 | 20.252 |
| 28 | 5 | Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports) | 350 | 20.918 |
| 29 | 4 | Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports) | 350 | 21.842 |
| 30 | 35 | Riley Herbst (23XI Racing) | 350 | 21.925 |
| 31 | 88 | Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing) | 349 | 1 lap |
| 32 | 51 | Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing) | 349 | 1 lap |
| 33 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports) | 347 | 3 laps |
| 34 | 34 | Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) | 347 | 3 laps |
| 35 | 10 | Ty Dillion (Kaulig Racing) | 346 | 4 laps |
| 36 | 38 | Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports) | 344 | 6 laps |
| 37 | 66 | Joey Gase (Garage 66) | 340 | 10 laps |
