Byron Wins in Homestead

William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to pick up his first victory of the season.

Byron led over 100 laps on Sunday, and he was able to pull away from Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. over the final run to claim his second-career victory.

Byron said his team worked hard in the offseason to make their cars faster at Homestead.

“We worked hard in the winter on this track,” Byron said.  “This car was just awesome.  I think we went to the sim four or five times this offseason, and it just pays off.”

Byron picked up the victory in just his third start with new crew chief Rudy Fugle.  Fugle had been a crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, and led Byron to seven victories in 2016.

“That guy has been huge for my career,” Byron said.  “He’s the reason I’m here and I’m glad I could get him.  He’s just awesome and this whole team did a phenomenal job.”

Tyler Reddick finished second after charging through the field on the high side over the final run.  Reddick had the fastest car in the closing laps, but didn’t have enough time to chase down Byron to fight for the win.

Reddick said he was disappointed to finish second with such a fast car.

“Second place is a good night considering how the first few weekends have went,” Reddick said.  “Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air at the end there and I saw how fast we were catching everybody, it’s beyond frustrating.”

“Just two or three decisions on a restart would have put me miles ahead, and I would have been within reach.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kyle Larson
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Michael McDowell
7. Ryan Newman
8. Kurt Busch
9. Alex Bowman
10. Kyle Busch
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Austin Dillon
13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14. Chase Elliott
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Brad Keselowski
17. Ross Chastain
18. Chase Briscoe
19. Chris Buescher
20. Christopher Bell
21. Ryan Preece
22. Bubba Wallace
23. Cole Custer
24. Anthony Alfredo
25. Joey Logano
26. Justin Haley
27. Erik Jones
28. Matt DiBenedetto
29. Ryan Blaney
30. Aric Almirola
31. Garrett Smithley
32. Cody Ware
33. Josh Bilicki
34. BJ McLeod
35. Quin Houff
36. Corey LaJoie
37. James Davison
38. Timmy Hill