By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — William Byron launched Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary season by snapping the team’s nine-year Daytona 500 losing streak with a win Monday in the rain-delayed “Great American Race.”
The last Hendrick driver to win the Daytona 500 was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2014. The 26-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, is the sixth different driver to win the 500 for Rick Hendrick, the winningest team owner in NASCAR history who made his way to victory lane on the actual 40th anniversary of his first Cup win.
“The first time we came here, we didn’t think we had any business even being here,” Hendrick said in victory lane. “We felt way out of our league. Now here we are 40 years later. You couldn’t write the script any better. To win this on the 40th, to the day, it’s just awesome.”
The ninth Daytona 500 win for Hendrick Motorsports tied the team with Petty Enterprises for most in NASCAR history.
“William Byron was already a superstar, and I mean, he just went to another level of being superstar,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon, himself a three-time Daytona 500 winner in the No. 24 Chevrolet.
“I wasn’t driving the car, but I felt like I was making every lap out there with him. We’re going to celebrate. This is a huge win.”
The fourth and final caution of the race began when Hendrick driver Alex Bowman hit Byron from behind and it caused Byron to sideswipe Brad Keselowski and trigger a 23-car crash that caused a red flag that lasted more than 15 minutes.
There were four laps remaining on the final restart and Byron was in second in the No. 24 Chevrolet. He and Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing pushed back and forth for the lead and it was Byron out front as a crash broke out behind him just as he’d crossed under the white flag marking the final lap of the race.
Byron won under caution and was followed by teammate Alex Bowman in a sweep for Chevrolet….
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