William Byron started his 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season with a last-place finish in the Daytona 500.
Byron, who was making his third career start in the 500, exited the race on lap 58 after contact from the No. 47 Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the backstretch. The front of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet was heavily damaged when it made contact with the inside wall.
“I think he slid left to cross my bumper and if he would have hit me square, it would have been fine,” Byron said. “But when he was sliding left and hitting me, it moved my car a little left too and, ultimately, it kind of caused him to turn me in the left rear. I’m not really sure how that happens, but it is what it is. I don’t really know what to do differently; just kind of go back, look at it, go onto Vegas and try to do well there.”
Byron started the race in the fourth position after winning the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel and earning 10 stage points this past Thursday night.
“It’s the ups and downs of racing,” Byron said, “It goes up and down, and luckily, we got something points-wise out of this race or less we’d have one point. I guess we have 10 or 11 points going into Las Vegas. We’re going to have to rebound and rally there. I don’t know, I’m not really sure what I could have done differently.”
