NASCAR Cup Darlington: Byron wins after Chastain and Larson crash

After Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson took turns putting each other in the wall, William Byron escaped with his third NASCAR Cup win of 2023 on Sunday at Darlington Raceway.

Larson emerged late in the race with the lead following the final round of green-flag pit stops, but a caution for a spin by series returnee Ryan Newman left Larson and Chastain to battle side-by-side on the restart with 13 laps to go.

Hendrick Chevrolet driver Larson nudged Trackhouse counterpart Chastain up into the wall as behind Joey Logano hit Martin Truex Jr., which ended the stage one winner's day and put the race back under caution.

On the ensuing restart with six laps remaining, Chastain and Larson again lined up alongside each other and this time it was Chastain who nudged Larson up the track, which wrecked both cars.

Byron inherited the lead from the melee and then had little trouble holding off Kevin Harvick in the two-lap overtime for the seventh win of his career and the 100th for Hendrick’s #24 Chevrolet.

An emotional Byron, whose grandfather passed away on Thursday, admitted afterwards that “we didn’t have the best third stage” after finishing second to Truex in the opening stage.

His victory was extra special coming one year after he was nudged out of a likely win by Logano.

“We just kept battling, and things just kind of come back around,” he said. “I definitely didn’t expect this.”

Chase Elliott ended up third ahead of Brad Keselowski. and Bubba Wallace, who rebounded from a bad pit stop earlier in the race to finish fifth.

Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, Worldwide Express / UPS Chevrolet Camaro

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, Worldwide Express / UPS Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

Chastain had taken the Stage 2 win, running ahead of Truex when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's final lap spin put the race under caution.

But when racing resumed for Stage 3, Larson exited the pits ahead of Chastain and held the upper hand until their dramatic on-track clashes.

At the finish Larson was classified 20th, Chastain 29th.

NASCAR Cup Darlington Race Results (295 laps)

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Time Gap
1 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 3:23'23.274  
2 4 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 3:23'24.055 0.781
3 9 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 3:23'24.754 1.480
4 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 3:23'25.072 1.798
5 23 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 3:23'25.222 1.948
6 21 United States Harrison Burton Ford 3:23'25.283 2.009
7 8 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 3:23'25.499 2.225
8 31 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 3:23'25.923 2.649
9 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 3:23'26.507 3.233
10 17 United States Chris Buescher Ford 3:23'26.517 3.243
11 38 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 3:23'26.599 3.325
12 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 3:23'26.634 3.360
13 47 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 3:23'26.713 3.439
14 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 3:23'26.905 3.631
15 41 United States Ryan Preece Ford 3:23'27.005 3.731
16 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 3:23'27.378 4.104
17 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 3:23'27.447 4.173
18 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 3:23'28.089 4.815
19 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 3:23'28.205 4.931
20 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 3:23'30.686 7.412
21 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 3:23'32.240 8.966
22 45 United States Tyler Reddick Toyota 3:23'53.853 30.579
23 16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 3:23'32.881 1 Lap
24 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 3:23'27.688 2 Laps
25 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 3:23'27.922 2 Laps
26 42 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 3:23'28.271 2 Laps
27 77 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 3:23'28.525 2 Laps
28 51 United States Ryan Newman Ford 3:23'33.173 4 Laps
29 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 3:13'52.919 8 Laps
30 48 Josh Berry Chevrolet 3:23'33.662 9 Laps
31 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 3:03'25.799 15 Laps
32 78 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 2:39'01.176 69 Laps
33 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 2:14'42.377 95 Laps
34 99 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 2:12'27.375 96 Laps
35 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 2:11'42.064 99 Laps
36 15 United States Brennan Poole Ford 24'24.050 256 Laps

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