William Byron reveals how his “instincts” defended his Daytona 500 triumph and shielded him from the chaos that derailed Denny Hamlin's win

William Byron explained how his instincts helped him win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500. This was his second consecutive victory in the Great American Race.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver started the race in fifth position after finishing second in the qualifying Duel. While he did remain in contention to win the race, he fell out of the top 5 as the checkered flag neared. A crash involving Ryan Preece's #60 flipping gave Denny Hamlin the lead, which he battled from Austin Cindric.

While the JGR driver and Penske driver battled after the white flag, Byron was still running in ninth place. However, the race leaders ultimately tangled up and crashed, which gave the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy a clear path ahead to clinch the victory despite the dominance that Toyota depicted in the closing stages.

Speaking during the post-race interview, he explained that he trusted his instincts going into that lane.

"Yeah, obviously some good fortune, but just trusting my instincts on the last lap there, I felt like they were getting squirrely on the bottom and just tried to.. I was honestly going to go third lane regardless because I was probably sixth coming down the back. So just obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor, but just really proud of this team. Worked super hard all week and had an amazing car," Byron said.

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"Really special": William Byron on winning two consecutive Daytona 500s

William Byron collected his fourteenth NASCAR Cup Series victory and his third triumph at the Daytona International Speedway (in the Cup Series, including the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400) with his win at the Great American Race. Not only does it provide him with a great start to the season, but it will also be a huge morale boost to the team, whom, he mentioned, he was "really proud" of.

"It's obviously really special. It's an amazing race and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving, but just really proud of our team. You know, I can't stress that enough," William Byron said.

The 27-year-old then shared his aspirations ahead of the long season, hinting that they would prepare for more victories this year.

"I'm just super thankful for this group and everything that they do in the off season to get prepared with playing on trying to win a lot of races this year. So we're not going to stop here," he concluded.

William Byron has been a competitive driver since his Cup Series debut with Hendrick Motorsports in 2018. He has qualified for the playoffs multiple times and has finished the season in third place twice consecutively (2023, 2024). He was a strong contender last year as well, but couldn't clinch the championship.