William Byron added to his season highlight reel, earning his first career NASCAR Cup Series road-course victory with a dominant win in yesterday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at historic Watkins Glen International.
It marks a career-best fifth victory of the season, tops in the Cup Series and the most for him in a single season in a six-year career in NASCAR’s top series. The 25-year-old Charlotte native held off another championship challenger, Denny Hamlin, by a healthy 2.632 seconds for the win. Byron led 66 of the 90 laps — extending his advantage over the field each lap of the final 10-lap run to the checkered flag.
Hamlin’s runner-up finish keeps the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship up for grabs. He trails Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. — who finished sixth — by 39 points heading into next week’s Daytona regular-season finale.