William Byron Continues To Lead Standings After Grabbing 5th Win Of The Season (8-20-23)

By: Becca Cottingham Quimby

Headline Photo Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA Today

We head to Watkins Glen which is road course number two before the end of the regular season. Denny Hamlin and William Byron will bring us to the green flag. It does not take long and Michael McDowell gets past William. He then goes after Denny Hamlin. It looks like he was going to get him quickly but comes up just short. So he waits and Denny Hamlin makes just the smallest mistake and Michael capitalizes on the mistake. Denny Hamlin then quickly loses second and almost third place. Ty Gibbs was right there to take third from him but Denny Hamlin threw a block and kept him behind his car. We then see Daniel Suarez just miss his marks and kiss the wall with the front of his car. No real damage other than flat spotted tires. We will then see Harrison Burton go around and ended up with dirty tires. Michael McDowell will maintain the lead through the technical end of stage one.

We head into what would be stage two and Michael McDowell will be hit with a harsh penalty as he drove through too many pit boxes on pit road. This means he will have to do a pass-through penalty. This will push him backward to around the eleventh or even more so backward once the penalty has been served. He questioned the penalty as one of those boxes was not being utilized. This will not be the last penalty we will see from this group. William Byron will go on to win stage two.

We head into stage three and this will be our longest stage in the race. Depending on how events happen many drivers could come down pit road under green flag conditions. As everyone will need fuel to make it to the end of this stage. We will see Ty Gibbs hit pit road first to get off the same pattern as everyone else. The team is just on the brink of making it to the end of the race. Then more cars start coming down the pit road to get fuel and tires. Most are having to wait until the fuel tank is full. While this is happening Chase Elliot flipped his fuel switch and they told him he should have three laps. This information seemed to be off for them as to how much fuel the backup tank holds. He ends up stalling and bringing out the first and only caution. This will hurt any chances they have of winning this race. While that is happening we are finding out that Kyle Larson got hit with a penalty for being too fast on pit road. It was going to be a pass-through penalty but will end up with him going to the rear due to the caution. This allows everyone to come down and get gas and tires under caution. Several were on pit road when the caution came out which was a saving grace for those teams. Michael McDowell has an issue with his engine and seems to lose power. He gets it down pit road and it will end his day. The race stays green through this entire event. William Byron maintains his constant lead over Denny Hamlin. With no additional cautions, William Byron will get the unofficial win.