NASCAR: Daytona results, standings – William Byron gets first win

William Byron is a NASCAR Cup Series race winner following his 98th career start, as he locked up a playoff berth at Daytona International Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron secured his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 2020 regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway to secure his spot in the playoffs.

Byron entered the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with a chance to qualify for the playoffs because of his point total, but he pushed that talk aside by winning in his 98th career start and securing his spot like the 10 other drivers who won at least one of the 26 races that have been contested this year.

Byron got a late push from teammate Chase Elliott coming to the checkered flag to secure the win by 0.119 seconds over the driver of the #9 Chevrolet, who formerly drove the #24 Chevrolet which Byron now drives.

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Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who led on the final restart and won at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval in Daytona Beach, Florida back in February’s Daytona 500, finished in third place behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota.

As a result of Byron’s win, the battle for the final playoff spot came down to Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson was well-positioned to qualify for the playoffs throughout much of the overtime-extended 164-lap race, but a late wreck put a dent in his chances.

He still nearly made a rally back, however, as his crew got his #48 Chevrolet fixed up to the point where it could at least continue in the race, and DiBenedetto lost quite a few positions on the final restart behind the wheel of his #21 Ford.

But DiBenedetto finished in 12th place, five positions ahead of Johnson in 17th, to finish ahead of him by six points for the 16th and final position in the regular season standings.

The first incident-related caution flag period did not begin until lap 144, but by the end of the race, 15 of the 40 drivers who competed in it failed to finish as a result of several late multi-car wrecks. Of the 25 drivers who did finish, 20 finished on the lead lap.

There were 35 lead changes, the most at Daytona International Speedway since the 2017 Daytona 500, among 16 drivers, 40% of the field.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Race Results
1st – William Byron
2nd – Chase Elliott
3rd – Denny Hamlin
4th – Martin Truex Jr.
5th – Bubba Wallace
6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Alex Bowman
8th – Brendan Gaughan
9th – Chris Buescher
10th – Brad Keselowski
11th – John Hunter Nemechek
12th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – Christopher Bell
14th – Michael McDowell
15th – Brennan Poole
16th – Ross Chastain
17th – Jimmie Johnson
18th – Aric Almirola
19th – Clint Bowyer
20th – Kevin Harvick
21st – Corey LaJoie
22nd – Ty Dillon
23rd – Quin Houff
24th – Timmy Hill
25th – Austin Dillon
26th – Daniel Suarez
27th – Joey Logano
28th – Matt Kenseth
29th – Tyler Reddick
30th – Cole Custer
31st – Joey Gase
32nd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
33rd – Kyle Busch
34th – Kurt Busch
35th – Erik Jones
36th – Ryan Newman
37th – Ryan Preece
38th – Josh Bilicki
39th – James Davison
40th – J.J Yeley

Here are the updating championship standings following Byron’s win.

NOTE: * = drivers who have locked themselves into the playoffs via wins.

Rank – Driver: Points (Behind), (Wins/Playoff Points OR +/- cut line)
1st* – Kevin Harvick: 1058 (0), (7 WINS/42 PP)
2nd* – Denny Hamlin: 943 (-115), (6 WINS/37 PP)
3rd* – Brad Keselowski: 913 (-145), (3 WINS/21 PP)
4th* – Martin Truex Jr.: 887 (-171), (1 WIN/7 PP)
5th* – Joey Logano: 866 (-192), (2 WINS/16 PP)
6th* – Ryan Blaney: 858 (-200), (1 WIN/8 PP)
7th* – Chase Elliott: 844 (-214), (2 WINS/16 PP)
8th – Aric Almirola: 759 (-299), (+99)
9th – Kyle Busch: 724 (-334), (+64)
10th – Clint Bowyer: 711 (-347), (+51)
11th – Kurt Busch: 710 (-348), (+50)
12th* – Alex Bowman: 692 (-366), (1 WIN/9 PP)
13th* – William Byron: 676 (-382), (1 WIN/7 PP)
14th – Matt DiBenedetto: 666 (-392), (+6)
————PLAYOFF CUT LINE————
15th – Jimmie Johnson: 660 (-398), (-6)
16th – Erik Jones: 593 (-465), (-73)
17th – Tyler Reddick: 579 (-479), (-87)
18th* – Austin Dillon: 573 (-485), (1 WIN/5 PP)
19th – Christopher Bell: 486 (-572), (-180)
20th – Chris Buescher: 477 (-581), (-189)
21st* – Cole Custer: 476 (-582), (1 WIN/5 PP)
22nd – Bubba Wallace: 470 (-588), (-196)
23rd – Michael McDowell: 452 (-606), (-214)
24th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 434 (-624), (-232)
25th – John Hunter Nemechek: 399 (-659), (-267)
26th – Ryan Newman: 388 (-670), (-278)
27th – Ty Dillon: 384 (-674), (-282)
28th – Matt Kenseth: 372 (-686), (-294)
29th – Corey LaJoie: 325 (-733), (-341)
30th – Ryan Preece: 293 (-765), (-373)
31st – Daniel Suarez: 275 (-783), (-391)
32nd – Brennan Poole: 193 (-865), (-473)
33rd – Quin Houff: 146 (-912), (-520)

Here are the point standings to open up the playoffs.

Rank – Driver: Points (Behind), (Wins/Playoff Points), (+/- cut line)
1st – Kevin Harvick: 2057 (0), (7 WINS/57 PP), (+53)
2nd – Denny Hamlin: 2047 (-10), (6 WINS/47 PP), (+43)
3rd – Brad Keselowski: 2029 (-28), (3 WINS/29 PP), (+25)
4th – Joey Logano: 2022 (-35), (2 WINS/22 PP), (+18)
5th – Chase Elliott: 2020 (-37), (2 WINS/20 PP), (+16)
6th – Martin Truex Jr.: 2014 (-43), (1 WIN/14 PP), (+10)
7th – Ryan Blaney: 2013 (-44), (1 WIN/13 PP), (+9)
8th – Alex Bowman: 2009 (-48), (1 WIN/9 PP), (+5)
9th – William Byron: 2007 (-50), (1 WIN/7 PP), (+3)
10th – Aric Almirola: 2005 (-52), (0 WINS/5 PP), (+1)
10th – Austin Dillon: 2005 (-52), (1 WIN/5 PP,) (+1)
10th – Cole Custer: 2005 (-52), (1 WIN/5 PP), (+1)
————ROUND OF 12 CUT LINE————
13th – Clint Bowyer: 2004 (-53), (0 WINS/4 PP), ( -1)
14th – Kyle Busch: 2003 (-54), (0 WINS/3 PP), ( -2)
15th – Kurt Busch: 2001 (-56), (0 WINS/1 PP), (-4)
16th – Matt DiBenedetto: 2000 (-57), (0 WINS/0 PP), (-5)

The opening race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 6. This race, the Cook Out Southern 500, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET.