Xfinity Series: William Byron sweeps Charlotte despite penalty

Written by Bailey Defoor

Credit: Ethan Smith / For NASCAR Digital Media

William Byron completely dominated and overcame a penalty to win in overtime at his home race, Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was a long and fun day, so let’s see how it went down.

As it unfolded

There was an all rookie front row with Taylor Gray securing his second Xfinity pole position, and Connor Zilisch on his return after an injury in Talladega.

They led the way to green and the outside lane struggled to get going. Gray and Austin Hill got through to the front. Zilisch had dropped 10 places on the initial lap but made it back to third.

On lap 2, Matt DiBenedetto began to smoke and slowed from 19th with a presumed tyre issue, but once he was pitted, smoke started filling the cockpit.

A battle for third between Zilisch and William Byron on lap 8 almost sent Zilisch sideways into the wall, but Zilisch saved it and kept the place. 

On lap 12, Zilisch and Byron got passed Hill, and one lap later, Sam Mayer got through, dropping Hill to fifth.

Hill continued to drop through the field, settling in at ninth.

The first caution came on lap 19 when Kris Wright rode high and went sideways off of turn 2. He kept it out of the wall and was able to make it to the pits without assistance.

Gray and Zilisch led the field again on lap 24, and Gray got a little push from Byron behind. Byron moved up to second and moved to the outside to challenge Gray for the lead.

Byron takes the lead on lap 25, and Zilsch sweeps around the inside to take second. Gray dropped to third.

Another caution came on lap 27. Brad Perez stalled after making contact with the outside wall  and deeded assistance to get back to the pits.

Byron and Zilisch lined up for the restart on lap 32. This time, Zilisch had a better start and battled for the lead before Byron pulled ahead.

Ryan Sieg also had a good restart, jumping up to third from sixth. 

On lap 34, Justin Allgaier got passed R. Sieg for third while Gray and Christian Eckes had slight contact. 

Mayer got passed R. Sieg as well on lap 35.

As the stage closed, Allgaier battled with teammate Zilisch for second.

Stage 1 Results:

1. No. 17 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

2. No. 88 - Connor Zilisch (JR Motorsports)

3. No. 7 - Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports) 

4. No. 41 - Sam Mayer (Haas Factory Team)

5. No. 27 - Jeb Burton (Jordan Anderson Racing)

6. No. 39 - Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing)

7. No. 54 - Taylor Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing)

8. No. 48 - Nick Sanchez (Big Machine Racing)

9. No. 20 - Brandon Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing)

10. No. 2 - Jesse Love (Richard Childress Racing)

As the stage ended, Chase Briscoe had contact with the outside wall and pitted immediately.

Under caution, most of the drivers pit. Byron made it off pit road first, followed by Allgaier and Gray. Zilisch dropped 2 places. 

William Sawalich was penalized for having an uncontrolled tyre on pit road.

Byron and Allgaier led the way back to green on lap 53. Byron got away first but the front was as they were.

Parker Retzlaff had been struggling with engine problems throughout the race, but went into the garage on lap 54.

While battling for third with Gray on lap 59, Zilisch went sideways again but saved it and moved up to third.

The stage was pretty straightforward with no big events.

Stage 2 Results:

1. No. 17 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

2. No. 7 - Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports) 

3. No. 88 - Connor Zilisch (JR Motorsports)

4. No. 54 - Taylor Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing)

5. No. 20 - Brandon Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing)

6. No. 41 - Sam Mayer (Haas Factory Team)

7. No. 39 - Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing)

8. No. 2 - Jesse Love (Richard Childress Racing)

9. No. 00 - Sheldon Creed (Haas Factory Team)

10. No. 8 - Sammy Smith (JR Motorsports)

Many of the frontrunners pit under caution. Byron and Allgaier got off pit road first. Gray, Brandon Jones, Mayer and Jesse Love got out ahead of Zilisch.

Byron earned a penalty for speeding off pit road and goes to the rear. Allgaier and Gray assume the front row.

They lead the filed back to green on lap 99. Allgaier and Gray stay side by side. 

Mayer and Zilisch had good restarts, moving up to third and fourth respectively. 

Love was penalized for going to wide on the restart before the restart line and had to drive through pit lane. 

On lap 103, Zilisch got passed Mayer for third as Byron broke into the top 20 since the restart. A couple of laps later, Zilisch and Mayer got passed Gray for second and third.

Leland Honeyman bumped into the wall and had to pit under green on lap 115. Not caution was thrown/

Regular green flag pit stops began with 57 laps to go. Anthony Alfredo had an issue during his stop with the car falling off the jack and the tyre getting stuck.

Gray had a flat tyre and slowed just before his pit stop.

Caution came out on lap 147 for debri from Gray’s flat tyre. 

Teammates Allgaier and Zilisch lined up on the front row for the restart on lap 154. Allgaier cleared for the lead and Zilisch battled with Dean Thompson for second. Thompson took second.

Harrison Burton also ran Zilisch high into the wall for third on lap 156. 

Caution came out for Mayer on lap 157. Mayer made contact with the wall at turn 3.

On lap 162, Allgaier and H Burton led the field to green. H. Burton struggled to get going as Allgaier, Thompson and Sheldon Creed got ahead of H. Burton and Zilisch.

Zilisch got ahead of H. Burton and Thompson on lap 164.

On lap 169, Briscoe had another moment with contact between him and Ryan Ellis. It would have been a caution, but Brsicoe made it to pit road safely.

Love broke into the top five on lap 170 and passed Thompson one lap later. Love began charging to challenge Zilisch for third.

On lap 176, Thompson was battling with Nick Sanchez when both drivers went wide and opened the door for Carson Kvapil to pass both of them on the turn.

Another caution came out with 22 to go for Kvapil. He got loose and scrapped the wall from fifth off of turn 4.

Some driver pit under caution, but namely, Allgaier, Creed, Love, Jeb Burton and Blane Perkins were the only drivers to not pit. Mayer came off pit road first, but he only took two new tyres.

Allgaier and Creed led the way on lap 183. Allgaier got ahead with J. Burton and Mayer passing Creed, and Zilisch broke into the top 5.

On the restart lap, multiple cars made contact around sevent place. Drivers included Jones, Perkins, Smith, Eckes, H. Burton, Love, Sawalich, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams, Kyle Sieg and R. Sieg.

Some drivers who did not pit under the last caution or had damage from the crash pitted.

On lap 188, Allgaier and J. Burton led the way. Allgaier got ahead barely as another crash happened in the back.

Katherine Legge and JJ Yeley spun to bring out this caution.

Allgaier and J. Burton lined up once again to take the race back to green with 6 to go. 

Allgaier cleared J. Burton. Zilisch also had a good start from fifth into second, and Byron got up to the top 3.  Zilisch goes sideways again but saves it as another caution is thrown.

Jones got into the wall, came down into Honeyman and collected K. Sieg and Legge in the accident. This caution sent the race into overtime.

While under caution, Daniel Dye lost a wheel on track and extended the caution. 

Allgaier lined up on the inside and Zilisch on the outside took the drivers to green with 2 to go in overtime. 

Allgaier received a little push from Byron behind. Byron bumps into Allagier and takes the lead. Zilisch also swept around Allgaier to take second as another crash happened as Byron crossed the checkered flag.

The last lap crash involved J. Burton, Sawalich and Brennen Poole.

Provisional Results

1. No. 17 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

2. No. 88 - Connor Zilisch (JR Motorsports)

3. No. 48 - Nick Sanchez (Big Machine Racing)

4. No. 7 - Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports) 

5. No. 8 - Sammy Smith (JR Motorsports)

6. No. 26 - Dean Thompson (Sam Hunt Racing)

7. No. 11 - Josh Williams (Kaulig Racing) 

8. No. 21 -  Austin Hill (Richard Childress Racing)

9. No. 71 - Ryan Ellis (DGM Racing + JIM)

10. No. 16 - Christian Eckes (Kaulig Racing)

11. No. 00 - Sheldon Creed (Haas Factory Team)

12. No. 2 - Jesse Love (Richard Childress Racing)

13. No. 41 - Sam Mayer (Haas Factory Team)

14. No. 3 - Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)

15. No. 39 - Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing)

16. No. 51 - Jeremy Clements (Jeremy Clements Racing)

17. No. 18 - William Sawalich (Joe Gibbs Racing)

18. No. 1 - Carson Kvapil (JR Motorsports)

19. No. 5 - Kris Wright (Our Motorsports) 

20. No. 20 - Brandon Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing)

21. No. 27 - Jeb Burton (Jordan Anderson Racing) 

22. No. 25 - Harrison Burton (AM Racing) 

23. No. 44 - Brennen Poole (Alpha Prime Racing) 

24. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing) +1 lap

25. No. 31 - Blaine Perkins (Jordan Anderson Racing) +1 lap

26. No. 42 - Anthony Alfredo (Young’s Motorsports) +2 laps

27. No. 14 - Garrett Smithley (SS-Green Light Racing) +2 laps

28. No. 07 - Nick Leitz (SS-Green Light Racing) +2 laps

29. No. 53- JJ Yeley (Joey Gase Motorsports) +2 laps

30. No. 91 - CJ McLaughlin (DGM Racing x JIM) +2 laps

31. No. 54 - Taylor Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing) +3 laps

32. No. 10 - Daniel Dye (Kaulig Racing) +6 laps

33. No. 70 - Leland Honeyman (Cope Family Racing) +11 laps

34. No. 28 - Kyle Sieg (RSS Racing) +11 laps

35. No. 32 - Katherine Legge (Jordan Anderson Racing) +17 laps

36. No. 45 - Brad Perez (Alpha Prime Racing) +23 laps

37. No. 99 - Matt DiBenedetto (Viking Motorsports) [DNF]

38. No. 4 - Parker Retzlaff (Alpha Prime Racing) [DNF]

Get ready to leave tears on your guitars as NASCAR Xfinity returns to Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, May 31, at 19:30 EST (Sunday, June 1, 00:30 BST).