Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing in Huntersville survived several crashes late in the race to win yesterday's NASCAR Daytona 500 in Florida. One of those wrecks in the final laps ended hopes of victory for 21-year-old Charlotte driver William Byron.
For Hamlin, the win was his second in NASCAR's most famous race. Team owner Joe Gibbs said afterward the victory, and second and third place finishes by team members Kyle Bush and Erik Jones, was in honor of his son, J.D. Gibbs, who died last month. J.D. Gibbs co-founded the team with his father and passed away after suffering a degenerative neurological disease.
Byron ended up finishing 21st, after being wrecked by driver Clint Boyer near the end of the race. Byron had started first in the field after running the fastest lap in qualifying last week. He led 44 laps of Sunday's race.
Byron went to Charlotte Country Day School and now attends Liberty University.
RESULTS
NASCAR.com, final finish order for the 2019 Daytona 500