NASCAR: William Byron advances to All-Star Race

William Byron advanced to the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway by winning the second stage of the All-Star Open.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron became the 18th driver to qualify for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and the second driver to do so in tonight’s All-Star Open, as he won the second of three stages in the last-chance qualifier.

Byron, who started this 35-lap stage around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee in the lead in his #24 Chevrolet after finishing the opening 35-lap stage in second place behind Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola in his #10 Ford, led every lap and won it by 1.615 seconds over Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto in second in his #21 Ford.

Almirola did not compete in the second stage of the 85-lap race since he secured his spot in the 140-lap main event by winning the first, and Byron will also not compete in the third and final stage of the All-Star Open as he prepares to compete for $1 million this evening. He is set to start the All-Star Race in 18th place.

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Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon finished the second stage in third place in his #3 Chevrolet ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer in fourth in his #14 Ford and Leavine Family Racing rookie Christopher Bell in fifth in his #95 Toyota.

Rounding out the top 10 in this stage were Front Row Motorsports teammates John Hunter Nemechek, a rookie, and Michael McDowell, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece, Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher and JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #38 Ford, #34 Ford, #37 Chevrolet, #17 Ford and #47 Chevrolet, respectively. This stage featured one caution flag period due to an incident between Nemechek and Preece.

Here are the full results of the second stage of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Stage Results
1st – William Byron
2nd – Matt DiBenedetto
3rd – Austin Dillon
4th – Clint Bowyer
5th – Christopher Bell
6th – John Hunter Nemechek
7th – Michael McDowell
8th – Ryan Preece
9th – Chris Buescher
10th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11th – Ty Dillon
12th – Daniel Suarez
13th – Corey LaJoie
14th – Tyler Reddick
15th – Brennan Poole
16th – J.J. Yeley
17th – Garrett Smithley
18th – Joey Gase
19th – Quin Houff
20th – Aric Almirola
21st – Bubba Wallace

Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1 right now for the remainder of the All-Star Open from Bristol Motor Speedway, and stay tuned in for the live broadcast of the All-Star Race tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.