Finally, after 6 months, William Byron did it again. The Hendrick Motorsports faced a particularly difficult race at Iowa Speedway. Featuring 11 caution flags, which scattered strategies in stage 2 and an exhilarating fuel mileage approach, the Iowa Corn 350 was not devoid of drama. However, Byron was cut out to handle that drama after his recent experience of misery. In doing so, he reclaimed his throne from Chase Elliott in the championship standings.
William Byron stretches it to the last drop
Well, that last drop did not appear in a few earlier races. William Byron ran out of fuel in the races at Michigan and Indianapolis, where his dreams of winning were shattered. After NASCAR embarked on its Iowa event, Byron faced fierce competitors in the form of Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe. But neither of them could topple him in the last stretch, where Byon made a gamble. Byron made his final pit stop on Lap 206 of 350 on the 0.875-mile oval, where the pit window is about 110 green-flag laps. However, Byron made it work.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver led a race-high 141 laps to clinch his first victory since winning the Daytona 500 season opener. In a post-race interview, William Byron shed light on his fuel efforts finally paying off: “Man, that was a, how about that for some fuel mileage? Was just a bout of fresh air after things not going our way with the fuel mileage. Just super thankful for Rudy, all these guys, all the engineers back in the shop, this whole race team…A lot of growing pains, it’s been tough on us, but it feels really good today to get a win. Honestly, I felt like we had a good car and just kind of braced it…Luckily, the fuel was enough there in the end. I think I ran out right there, that’s why I stopped.”
“Our confidence in each other never wavered.” pic.twitter.com/mexfNGyzjj
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 3, 2025
The No. 24 Chevrolet had been in the doldrums for quite some time. William Byron encountered multiple DNFs since Pocono, but all the while, he was working on himself. Now, Chase Elliott is no longer No. 1 on the championship standings. He continued, “Yeah, I think our confidence got better…I feel like our speed’s been better than it’s ever been; that’s a big reason why we stay confident. I feel like every week we work really hard together and show up prepared, show up fast, and yeah, we needed just one to go our way…Honestly, they haven’t, but today, they did.”
William Byron is now a solid contender in the playoffs, so let us wait and see what he will do next. Stay tuned for more updates!
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