These eight drivers were ahead of William Byron on the final lap

If there was ever an example of being in the right place at the right time, it happened at Daytona Interational Speedway on Sunday night, and William Byron was about as big of a beneficiary as you can possibly be in the 67th annual Daytona 500.

The reigning Daytona 500 winner took the white flag in ninth place, and when 23XI Racing's Riley Herbst lost control of his car, it looked as though the race may end under caution.

Fortunately for everybody not named Austin Cindric, Herbst managed to keep it together and avoid wrecking, and NASCAR made the smart decision to stay green.

Byron entered the back straightaway of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval in seventh place, and then the six drivers ahead of him were collected by and/or hindered by a wreck.

The wreck allowed Byron to take a commanding lead over 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick heading into turn three, and though NASCAR still didn't throw the caution flag, he held on and drove his No. 24 Chevrolet across the finish line to win the "Great American Race" for the second consecutive year.

Every one of these eight drivers entered the final lap of the race running ahead of Byron: Team Penske's Cindric, Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman, Herbst, Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, Rick Ware Racing's Corey LaJoie, and Legacy Motor Club's John Hunter Nemechek.

None of them could deny Byron a second straight Daytona 500 victory.

By the time the pack reached the back straightaway, Byron had worked his way around Bowman, and by that point, Herbst was well out of the picture.

The wreck involved Hamlin, Cindric, Custer, Briscoe, and LaJoie, and the chaos bottled up Nemechek behind them. Byron was just able to avoid a spinning Hamlin at the top of the race track.

Though the caution flag did not fly after the incident, Byron was still able to hold off Reddick and win the race. Even Reddick had only entered the final lap in 13th place, and third place finisher Jimmie Johnson of Legacy Motor Club started it all the way back in 15th.

Briscoe still managed to save his car and bring it home in fourth place, marking the best finish for a Daytona 500 polesitter since Dale Jarrett won the race from pole in 2000.

The fact that the average running position of the top three finishers in Sunday's race was 12.3 entering the final lap just goes to show that it's never over until it's over, and "right place, right time" is truly an understatement when it comes to coming out on top – or seeing a dominant car end up in the barrier – in one of these races.

Atlanta Motor Speedway is scheduled to host the second race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season this coming Sunday afternoon, giving the series back-to-back superspeedway races to start the year for the second year in a row. Fox is set to provide live coverage of the Ambetter Health 400 beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. This race saw a three-wide finish at the front last February. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!