On the 19th of February, 1984, Geoffrey Bodine finished eighth in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway with a brand-new NASCAR Cup Series team, known then as All Star Racing, in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Flash-forward exactly 40 years to the day, and the organization, now carrying the name of patriarch Rick Hendrick, is the winningest organization in the NASCAR Cup Series, and celebrating a 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500, at the start of their 40th Anniversary season.
William Byron, driving the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro, had the honor of delivering Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports this elusive victory, narrowly beating teammate Alex Bowman for the victory on the final lap of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious events in NASCAR.
“It sounds really damn good. Thanks to an awesome crowd for coming out. I have so many emotions,” said Byron. “Obviously hate what happened on that backstretch. I just got pushed and got sideways. But so proud of this team, whole AXALTA team, 40th anniversary to the day, on Monday.”
Byron, who last season scored a series-leading six victories and a berth into the Championship 4, was near the front of the pack throughout the majority of the event, but never secured the top spot until the very end, clearing Ross Chastain on a late-race restart to maintain his track position.
However, as things usually do in the NASCAR Cup Series on superspeedways, things flew off the handle, as Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, and Corey LaJoie all tried to make passes on the 26-year-old driver from Hendrick Motorsports.
Just before crossing under the start-finish line, Chastain, who was running on the rear bumper of the race leader, attempted to shoot through a temporary hole between the two lines and take the lead, when the Trackhouse Racing driver made contact with Austin Cindric, sending them both into the infield grass.
However, by the time the caution had been displayed, most of the field had already gotten the white flag, meaning NASCAR would need to look back at video evidence from the moment of caution, to determine the winner of the Daytona 500, which narrowly ended up being William Byron.
All things considered, the Charlotte, North Carolina native was lucky to have his No. 24 Chevrolet intact, after a bad push sent Byron sideways, which triggered a 23-car pileup late in the season-opening event.
Bowman, who ended up playing a role in the major pileup in the closing laps, managed to record a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500, after just barely missing out on having passed his teammate at the moment that the caution flag was thrown.
Christopher Bell, the winner of the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel on Thursday, finished in third place for Joe Gibbs Racing. In fourth-place, Corey LaJoie matched a career-best from two different occasions last season. Bubba Wallace completed the top-five finishers, per NASCAR.
AJ Allmendinger was credited with sixth place, while LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammates John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones finished seventh and eighth. Doubling up on the teammate factor, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top-10 for Stewart-Haas Racing.
After looking like a dominant force for much of the event, leading 12 laps, and driving through the field on three different occasions, Kyle Busch came home in 12th-place, and remained quiet in the race’s closing stages, after starting in 34th.
Joey Logano, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Daytona 500 polesitter, managed to dominate much of Monday’s postponed event, leading a race-high 45 laps, but got engulfed in the late-race accident that claimed the race of defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, who finished 30th.
Following a long week at Daytona International Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend for the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, February 25, 2024, at 3:00 PM ET.
