The perfect script played out for Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 66th Daytona 500.
Race leader William Byron finished a four-lap shootout under caution in a Presidents' Day Daytona 500 delayed a day because of rain, making him the winner of the Great American Race in Florida.
Ross Chastain made a move into the middle lane and wrecked with second-running Austin Cindric.
That gave Byron, in the No 24 Chevrolet, his first Daytona 500 win and 11th of his Nascar career.
Byron's teammate Alex Bowman finished second as Hendrick Motorsports emerged with a record-tying ninth 500 win. The race marked the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports' first Cup Series start, which came in the Daytona 500.
"I have so many emotions," said Byron, who got loose and started an 18-car wreck with nine laps left.
"I'm just a kid [who went from] racing on computers to winning the Daytona 500. I can't believe it."
Pole winner Joey Logano led a race-high 45 laps but finished 32nd after being collected in the race's biggest wreck..
REUTERS
A pileup mars the Daytona 500, with pole winner Joey Logano, in the No 22 car, caught in the chaos. REUTERS
William Byron celebrates leading a 1-2 finish by Hendrick Motorsports. AFP
