William Byron turned in a steady and commanding performance on Sunday, earning the NASCAR Cup Series victory from the pole position in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The 26-year-old held off a hard-charging Christopher Bell in the closing laps to take the checkered flag by just 0.692 seconds, but led a dominant 43 of the 68 laps around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course.

Byron’s second win of the year makes him the first multi-race winner so far in 2024. It marks the 12th career Cup Series victory for the Charlotte native and gives his Hendrick Motorsports team a series-best 28th win on NASCAR road courses all-time.

“I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps, just micro errors and Christopher was really fast there on the longer run,” said Byron. “This sport is so hard and so difficult week in and week out to show up and have fast cars…Just super thankful to have this opportunity. It’s just a lot of fun to win races and it’s really difficult too.”

While Byron made it look easy at times, building a near three-second lead with 10 laps to go, Bell charged hard in the closing circuits. The Phoenix winner gained four positions in that span to pressure Byron all the way to the checkered flag in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“Obviously once I got to him, it was going to be tough to pass him,” Bell admitted. “William has been really good on the road courses and he was flawless today.”

Byron’s Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman came home fourth, while 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, last year’s COTA winner, rounded out the top five.

It was a stellar day for the youngsters at Joe Gibbs Racing as well. Ty Gibbs finished a strong third, his fifth top-10 of the season, while Bell’s runner-up effort keeps both drivers firmly planted in the championship top five.

The race ran caution-free outside of scheduled stage breaks, with seven leaders and 11 lead changes. Road course ace AJ Allmendinger was sixth, followed by 2022 winner Ross Chastain in seventh.

Byron’s Hendrick team has now won two of the first six races, while JGR’s youth movement is making waves. As the series heads to Richmond next weekend, it’s shaping up to be an intriguing battle among NASCAR’s powerhouse teams and rising stars