William Byron became the first driver this season to win two NASCAR Cup Series races after the Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix.
William Byron turned pole position into victory at the Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. He became the first driver to win two races in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024 after winning the prestigious Daytona 500 earlier this year. Circuit of the Americas is one of the most difficult tracks on the NASCAR calendar. This is because the 20 corners throughout the route pose different challenges for drivers.
This pole position is Byron’s second at COTA in the past two years in the NASCAR Cup Series. Christopher Bell took second place. Ty Gibbs finished a close third, tying his best finish of the season. Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five. AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out his COTA top 10 players. Bell won the first stage of the race as he refused to pit at the end of the first stage. He was thus able to earn an additional 10 points with the stage win.
The second stage of the race was also won by a driver who refused to pit for his second time. The rider who decided to stay out for another 10 points was last week’s race winner Denny Hamlin, who took his first stage win of the year. This race gave Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. both the lead for the 2024 Cup Series Championship. Larson only finished 18th today, and Truex Jr. finished 10th.
