William Byron led 44 of 60 laps turned in his #9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. As a result, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year front runner won his 5th victory of the season at Pocono Raceway. Byron pulled away to beat runner-up Cameron Hayley in a caution filled race. He cruised to the checkered flag with a comfortable 1.407 second lead.
The triumph at Pocono Raceway was William Byron’s fifth victory in just 12 starts this year. Also, Byron broke NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Kurt Busch’s rookie record of four wins in 2000. The 18 year old had his sights set on the rookie record from the beginning of the event.
“It means a lot,” said Byron, who pitted for fuel for the last time on Lap 25 and spent the rest of the race at Pocono Raceway saving gas. “It was definitely a goal—I can’t lie about that. I knew that was something to beat, and we just show up with so much focus. “We never get off track, I feel like. It’s just a credit to where we are as a race team, the work we’re doing, the work they’re doing in the shop on the trucks, and we’re putting it all together when we get to the race track.”
William Byron increased his lead in the Camping World Truck Series standings to 25 points over second-place Matt Crafton. Crafton finished the event at Pocono Raceway in the 12th place spot. Daniel Hemric, spun-out and wrecked Brad Keselowski Racing’s teammate Tyler Reddick. Furthermore, the melee resulted in the race’s the fifth caution. Hemric is tied with Timothy Peters for third in the standings. He is just 37 points behind Byron.
William Byron’s teammate Christopher Bell, suffered an early wreck when John Wes Townley knocked his #4 Toyota into the outside wall. Bell lost five laps while making repairs to his hot-rod. The Kyle Busch Motorsports’ driver then did the unthinkable.
Bell drove on to receive a Camping World Truck Series record five free go arounds under caution. Furthermore, he was the highest scored lapped truck after the race’s final caution. That allowed Byron to return to the lead lap for the race’s final restart on Lap 57. The fellow rookie finished in an impressive 10th place.
“I was just out there trying to log laps,” Bell said. “And the next thing you know, there was a yellow. Then there was another yellow, and they said, ‘You’re the lucky dog, come on around.’ The last yellow put us on the lead lap, and we were able to capitalize on it. To come out of here with a top 10 was remarkable for us.”
Cameron Hayley tied his best career finish at Pocono Raceway in the runner-up spot. The result was also his second top five finish at the Tricky Triangle. Hayley won a late race duel over teammates Brett Moffitt and Timothy Peters for the impressive finish. Red Horse Racing also recorded it’s best output as a team on the 2016 season. Hayley credited the speed that William Byron displayed in the contest at Pocono Raceway.
“Would’ve like to get the win, but that 9 was fast,” Hayley said. “He would just drive away. We ran out coming in and he had enough for burnouts, so they’re doing something. Overall, great run for our Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra. After the fire a month ago, to come back and run this strong in July is awesome.”
Brett Moffitt finished with a respectable third place effort. The speedster was in a fill in role for Matt Tifft. Tifft is undergoing treatment after surgery to remove a brain tumor. Timothy Peters drove on to a fourth place result. Cole Custer managed a top five appearance finishing in fifth place.
Final Results for the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway:
1 William Byron # Liberty University Toyota 60 37 5 149.7 Running 3 44
2 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Toyota 60 31 117.7 Running
3 Brett Moffitt Toyota 60 30 99.0 Running
4 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 60 30 1 114.6 Running 2 4
5 Cole Custer # Haas Automation Chevrolet 60 28 89.8 Running
6 Rico Abreu # Safelite Auto Glass/Curb Records Toyota 60 27 94.2 Running
7 Ben Kennedy Jacob Chevrolet 60 26 105.3 Running
8 Johnny Sauter Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 60 25 85.2 Running
9 John H Nemechek Chevrolet 60 24 92.8 Running
10Christopher Bell # SiriusXM Toyota 60 23 80.4 Running
11 Ben Rhodes # Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota 60 22 92.3 Running
12 Matt Crafton IdealDoor/Menards Toyota 60 21 90.3 Running
13 Cody Coughlin # JEGS/Mishimoto Toyota 60 20 74.7 Running
14 Jordan Anderson Columbia SC – Famously Hot Chevrolet 60 19 69.7 Running
15 Spencer Gallagher Chapel of the Flowers Chevrolet 60 19 1 84.1 Running 1 12
16 Travis Kvapil CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet 60 17 58.2 Running
17 Tommy Joe Martins Cross Concrete/MTech Controls Chevrolet 60 16 57.3 Running
18 Reed Sorenson(i) Chevrolet 60 0 53.3 Running
19 Kyle Martel Finish Line Express/Hanover Cold Storage Chevrolet 60 14 51.1 Running
20 Ryan Ellis(i) FDNY Chevrolet 60 0 45.3 Running
21 Todd Peck(i) BoobiTrap.com Chevrolet 60 0 42.8 Running
22 Daniel Hemric Blue Gate Bank Ford 60 11 56.2 Running
23 Norm Benning Churchill Transport Chevrolet 60 10 40.5 Running
24 Brandon Brown Coastal Carolina University Chevrolet 59 9 56.5 Running
25 Austin Wayne Self # AM Technical Solutions Toyota 56 8 55.5 Running
26 Tyler Reddick Cooper Standard Ford 28 7 56.7 Accident
27 Carlos Contreras American Club Chevrolet 22 6 39.0 Electrical
28 Jennifer Jo Cobb PitStopsforHope.org Chevrolet 20 5 30.7 Brakes
29 John Wes Townley Zaxby’s/Jive Communications Chevrolet 16 4 51.3 Accident
30 Sean Corr Churchill Transport Chevrolet 5 PE 28.7 Brakes
31 Austin Hill Ford 1 2 24.7 Accident
32 Caleb Roark PitStopsforHope.org Chevrolet 0 1 26.5 Engine
