Did Alex Bowman beat William Byron to the flag? NASCAR justifies controversial Daytona 500 finish.

DAYTONA BEACH — William Byron beat Alex Bowman to the start-finish line. Of that, there is no doubt.

Was he ahead at the time the caution flag flew? And why did the caution flag not fly earlier?

Those answers get a little murkier.

NASCAR proclaimed Byron the winner shortly after the final yellow occurred, citing the fact Byron was slightly ahead of Alex Bowman at the right time. The organization justified that decision via X.

However, the photo evidence seems to contradict a video that circulated on the internet, riling up some fans.

And then there was the timing of the caution flag. Had it come out before Byron got to the start-finish line to take the white flag, the race would not have been over since an overtime restart would've been necessitated.

Mike Forde, managing director of racing communications for NASCAR, also took to X to explain the timing of the caution. Referring to the photo NASCAR tweeted, Forde said, "You can also see the No. 2 car coming back up the racetrack. That's why the yellow was called. Had hoped it would have stayed down on the apron like the 1 did and end under green."

Had Austin Cindric (2) and Ross Chastain (1) kept their cars in the grass, the caution may never have come out, allowing the field to race it out to the end. But once they came back up in harm's way of the field, the yellow had to fly.

Let's go through the gears:

Daniel Suarez endures forgettable Daytona doubleheader (First gear)

Daniel Suarez scheduled himself for 800 miles of racing.

He didn't make it. Not even close.

The Trackhouse Racing full-time Cup driver was involved in the 'Big One' with nine laps remaining in the Daytona 500 while running in the top 10. In a spot start in the Xfinity Series, he made it just 22 laps before being collected in the night's first crash along with Hailie Deegan and Kyle Weatherman.

Suarez finished 34th in the Daytona 500 and 35th in the United Rentals 300.

Natalie Decker, not Hailie Deegan, leads Xfinity Series laps (Second gear)

While Monday's United Rentals 300 was hyped in part for being the full-time series debut for Hailie Deegan, it was another female driver that made history.

Natalie Decker became just the third woman to ever lead a lap in the Xfinity Series and the first to do it since Danica Patrick in 2013. Decker and Patrick are the only women to have led an Xfinity lap at Daytona.

Decker had to make the field via qualifying time Saturday afternoon and her 18th-place finish is her best career showing in 11 Xfinity starts, with three DNQs.

"For anyone that's watching this right now, when things are going wrong and you want to give up, don't give up because the last three years were really hard on me and tonight was a turn around," Decker said. "I want to cry."

Who won the Daytona 500 last night? (Third gear)

None other than Byron, who seemingly wins just about everything these days.

Byron's victory gave him seven wins in the last 35 Cup Series events, meaning he's won a cool 20% of races since taking the checkered flag in back-to-back races at Las Vegas and Phoenix early last season.

Atlanta betting odds, statistics, trends (Fourth gear)

Byron has two wins over the past six races at Atlanta, with Ryan Blaney holding the best average finish over that time at 7.3. Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch each have two wins at Atlanta, joining Byron with the most among full-time, active drivers.

Daytona 500 final results

1. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

3. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

4. Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

5. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

6. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

7. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

8. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

9. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

10. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

11. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

12. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

13. Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

14. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

15. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

16. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

17. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

18. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

19. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

20. David Ragan, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford

21. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (-1)

22. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford (-1)

23. Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (-1)

24. Riley Herbst, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford (-1)

25. Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (-1)

26. Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford (-1)

27. Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Ford (-2)

28. Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota (-4)

29. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota (-8)

30. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford (-8)

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet (-8)

32. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford (-9)

33. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford (-9)

34. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (-9)

35. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (-9)

36. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford (-24)

37. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (-54)

38. Kaz Grala, No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Accident, Lap 5)

39. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (Accident, Lap 5)

40. Carson Hocevar, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (Accident, Lap 5)

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500: Natalie Decker leads Xfinity laps; NASCAR explains ending