CHEVROLET NCS AT PHOENIX: Byron Drives Chevrolet to Fourth Consecutive Win of 2023 - Speedway Digest

William Byron became the first repeat winner of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, powering his No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 to the win at Phoenix Raceway.

· The win is Byron’s sixth victory in 184 career starts in NASCAR’S premier series.

· The win marked Byron’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Phoenix Raceway.

· Chevrolet has now won the first four NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races in 2023 with Byron becoming the series’ first repeat winner of the season.

· This marks the first time since 2001 that a single manufacturer has won the first four NASCAR Cup Series races in a season, which was last accomplished by Chevrolet.

· Byron’s victory marked Chevrolet’s 26th NASCAR Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway, extending its series-leading record at the track.

· The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now has 837 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner Quotes

On the two-tire call from crew chief Rudy Fugle:

“I owe the last couple of weeks to him. He’s done a really good job strategy-wise, and execution-wise we’ve done a good job to put ourselves in those positions on the front row with a shot at the end. Thanks to everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports putting together great cars and just doing a great job. It’s a big credit to them, the engine shop, Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and everybody. It’s cool to have Valvoline back on the car with a really historic-looking paint scheme, so it’s nice to get into Victory Lane.”

More on the win:

“Thanks to Valvoline and all the sponsors we have. It’s a great day for us. We weren’t the best car at times. We were really good at the beginning, and it was nice to see it come back our way. It definitely was a top-four car. Rudy made a great decision there and a great pit stop. Execution… that’s what we’ve been good at.”

Importance of late pit stops the last two weeks and get on the front row for restarts:

“It’s big. You’ve got to have a chance there on the front row to really have clean air on your nose and make the right moves. We were able to get on the front row there and stay on the outside of Kyle the second time and have a good enough restart. Those green-white-checkers, you can either wreck or win. We’ve been on the good side of them for a couple of weeks.”

Momentum of two wins in a row:

“It’s great. This team has been working really hard. We didn’t want to stop last week, and we just wanted to keep it going. We have more work to do but hopefully this week is a little bit calmer and we can relax a little bit.”

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:

POS. DRIVER

1st WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1

4th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

8th KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1

9th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY BEST FRIENDS CAMARO ZL1

10th JOSH BERRY, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

POS. DRIVER

1st William Byron (Chevrolet)

2nd Ryan Blaney (Ford)

3rd Tyler Reddick (Toyota)

4th Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)

5th Kevin Harvick (Ford)

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 19, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Finished: 4th

“We got lucky with the one caution, and the team made a great call to take two tires and get us out in the lead. Restarts are just tough. I felt like I ran William up pretty high and expected him to lose some grip, but he did a really good job of holding it to my outside and clearing me down the back. Yeah I’m pissed off but a great fight by the team, a great car and way better than we were here last year. It’s a long season, but hopefully we’re in the final four when we come back here in November and can have a run similar to that with speed and try to execute a little bit better in the end.”

More on the late restart:

“I thought I drove in far enough to at least that if he chased me in I thought he would get too high and into the marbles. I think that top lane just got a little bit better the last 50 laps or so. I didn’t run in far enough and ended up getting beat. It’s a bummer, but William again executed the last two races a little bit better than I did. Congrats to him and their team. We’ll try to keep these good runs up.”

Josh Berry, No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro ZL1

Finished: 10th

How are you feeling after today?

“It was a really solid day for the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevy team. We were able to improve a lot from what we had last week. We were able to stay on the lead lap basically the whole race. We had a couple of runs in there that were really good. A couple runs where we fell back a little bit, but it’s just all part of a learning experience for me. These races are so long and I need to be able to learn this car a little bit better where I can give Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) a little bit better direction on how to help me.

Towards the end, we found that we were a little bit on the free side of our better runs. At the end there, we were probably going to finish 15th or 16th, which I was still pretty happy with. Obviously had the cautions there and we executed a couple of really good restarts there and was able to get a top-10.”

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Best Friends Camaro ZL1

Finished: 9th

“It’s been since 2016 I think since we’ve finished in the top-10 here, so happy for that. I have to figure out how to get better here. Obviously I think our car is stronger than that when you look at our teammates. Fundamentally, I have something messed up. Just have to keep working on it, but proud of my No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevy team. Good points day.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:

Stage One

· Kyle Larson (No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1) topped the charts in both the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying sessions, leading the field to the green from the pole position for the first time this season.

· The 60-lap Stage One went caution-free with William Byron (No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1) leading the field to the checkered flag to take his third stage win of the season.

· Hendrick Motorsports teammates Byron and Larson led every lap of Stage One (Byron – 59 laps; Larson – one lap).

· Four Chevrolet drivers scored stage points with top-10 finishes in Stage One:

1st William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1

2nd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

7th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Kubota Camaro ZL1

10th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1

Stage Two

· Stage Two only saw one caution with green-flag pit stops playing a crucial role in track position during the duration of the stage.

· After leading 120 of the 125 laps in the stage, Larson powered his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to the Stage Two win, marking his first stage win of the season.

· Chevrolet drivers have now taken seven of the eight stage wins thus far this season: (Chastain – three; Byron – three; Larson – one).

· At the conclusion of the stage, Chevrolet drivers had led 184 of the 185 laps, recorded by three different drivers (Larson – 121 laps; Byron – 62 laps; Chastain – one lap).

· With a round of pit stops taking place at the conclusion of Stage Two, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 pit crew got Larson off pit road first to give the team a front-row starting spot for the start of the final stage.

· Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10

1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

2nd William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1

9th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Kubota Camaro ZL1

GM PR