William Byron earns second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series win with victory at Daytona

NASCAR driver William Byron celebrates after winning the Xfinity Series Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.

By Associated Press

July 1, 2017 3:50 PM PT

Reporting from DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —

William Byron got his second win of the season, and this time he got to do it in front of his bosses.

Byron won his second consecutive Xfinity Series race on Saturday by leading a 1-2 finish at Daytona International Speedway for JR Motorsports. Byron raced to his first career Xfinity victory last weekend at Iowa, but team owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick weren’t at the track to see him.

This time, Hendrick was the first person to the window of his car in victory lane. The 19-year-old became the youngest series winner at Daytona.

He used a push from teammate Elliott Sadler to clear the traffic on the restart. Byron was aided when Erik Jones was knocked out of line, and it gave Byron a clear lead.

An accident behind the lead pack caused the race to end under yellow.

“I have to go around one more time, right?” Byron radioed his crew about the procedures. He did a celebratory burnout and was interviewed live by NBC Sports on the frontretch for the crowd to hear in a new wrinkle from the network.

“This is so cool to win in Daytona,” Byron said. “We’ve had a great last three weeks. We’re bringing faster cars, executing better and as a team we’re getting more and more confident.”

Byron was prepared to stick around Saturday night ant watch the Cup race, which is being billed as the last at Daytona for retiring driver Earnhardt Jr. The owner of the winning Xfinity Series car was scheduled to start from the pole in Saturday night’s main event.

“Dale is so good here and I’ve watched a lot of his stuff, seen how he side drafts,” Byron said. “I never thought I’d win one of these things and I’ve kind of learned some things watching him.”

Sadler was second, followed by Dakoda Armstrong, Jeb Burton and David Starr.

Rain postponed the race from Friday night until Saturday, and then a second weather delay of nearly two hours made for a lengthy 250 miles.

Seven drivers were scheduled to run both the Xfinity Series race and the 400-mile Cup race.