William Byron holds off Christopher Bell's late charge at COTA
William Byron has won for the first time at Circuit of the Americas after holding off a late charge from Christopher Bell, who crossed the line in second.
Ty Gibbs finished third. Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 10.
This was Byron's 12th career Cup win, his 10th in the Next Gen car.
Byron had the dominant car Sunday, which he used to lead 42 of the 68 laps, but he did not have the easiest path to victory lane.
The race to the finish took place after Byron cycled back to the lead on Lap 51 after the final round of green flag pit stops. Bowman was just behind him in second while Gibbs was in third. Bell was nowhere near the front of the pack, but he put himself within 13 seconds of the leader with 16 laps to go.
Bell methodically moved through the field. He passed Bowman for third and then passed Gibbs for second with three laps remaining. From that point, it was a two-car race for the win on the final lap.
Bell put himself within 1.5 seconds with half of a lap remaining in the race, using a faster car to erase the deficit. However, Bell could not get close enough to make a move for the win. He had to settle for second while Byron won his second race of the season.
Stage 1 winner: Christopher Bell
Stage 2 winner: Denny Hamlin
Who had a good race: William Byron started from the pole and led 42 laps. He won for the second time on a road course. ... Alex Bowman didn't have the long run speed of Byron, Christopher Bell or Ty Gibbs. He still finished fourth, his fourth consecutive top-10 finish at COTA. ... Bubba Wallace rebounded from hard contact with Corey LaJoie and Martin Truex Jr. on Lap 1, multiple pit stops and a spin. He finished 15th, his first time finishing a race at COTA. ...
Who had a bad race: Austin Cindric started 11th and raced inside the top 10 during stage 1. He fell outside the top 20 after extended time on pit road for repairs to his front end. He finished 19th. ... Michael McDowell lost power steering late in stage 2. He made multiple stops on pit road before going to the garage with five laps to go. He finished 39th. ... Chase Elliott received a penalty in the final stage after losing control in the esses. He served a pass-through from the top 10. He then spun from 11th with 14 laps remaining. He finished 16th.
