William Byron created history when he won the 2025 Daytona 500. His back-to-back success in the Great American Race put him alongside some of the best drivers in NASCAR ever. Furthermore, the win held a special honor in having the POTUS Donald Trump as its grand marshal. Byron spoke to Fox News Digital recently and expressed his thoughts on the same.
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Trump had conversations with drivers on the pit road before he climbed into the presidential limousine. The armored took a pace lap around the track before the green flag was waved.
Unfortunately, his visit was cut short because of the bad weather that affected the day. The race was delayed for a few hours and he couldn’t stay back.
“It was pretty neat,” the HMS driver quipped. “I think anytime you can have a sitting president come and see your sporting event, it is very special. And for him to take the time to do that was really cool. Just to be able to see the motorcade go across the track and just the various things that he did when he was there was pretty cool.”
Byron, meanwhile, went on to collect his 14th Cup Series victory. Only four drivers before him have managed to win consecutive Daytona 500s. They are Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, and Denny Hamlin. Being the fifth on this exclusive list is a prestigious honor for a young driver like Byron.
Byron defends his second Daytona 500 victory
The No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro of Byron was nowhere near victory when the final lap of the Daytona 500 rolled down. He was running ninth at the time, with Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin fighting for the lead. In a sudden stroke of luck, the leaders wrecked before reaching the checkered flag. As chaos followed, Byron took complete advantage.
He cleverly bypassed the wrecked cars in front of him and cruised to the finish line. Wanting the race to finish under green, NASCAR did not throw a caution, and he was declared as the winner. This unexpected victory led to questions being raised against the credibility of his success. However, he was pretty clear about things.
He said, “Obviously, I was fortunate in that situation, but I made moves leading up to that [which] put me in that position. I sensed that it was coming and just tried to position myself. I don’t really read too much into stuff outside my circle of people.” He refused to apologize for winning and noted that he was excited for his team.
