Why William Byron’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff win was his least likely of the season

For the seventh time this season, William Byron was victorious in a Cup Series race.

But this latest win on Sunday in Texas may have been the least likely.

Kyle Larson held a dominant lead for nearly the entire back half of the race, until pole-sitter Bubba Wallace passed him with 20 laps to go, and Larson soon wrecked out. Wallace couldn’t hang onto the lead, and Byron claimed his first lead of the afternoon with five laps remaining.

Byron, whose seven victories this season are a field-best, was solid all day in a caution-filled race and has punched his ticket to the Round of 8.

“We just fought through traffic all day,” Byron told NBC Sports in his post-race interview. “This was one of those hot days. It felt like when I played football ... It was a grinded-out day, and our team was there at the end. I’m really proud of this one, as hot as it was and as tough as it was.”

While Byron has the most wins of any Cup Series driver this year, this one represented an even bigger accomplishment for the legendary team with which he races — his win marked the 300th for Hendrick Motorsports.

Byron, a Charlotte native, considered himself a huge Hendrick Motorsports fan growing up, noting that he watched and looked up to figures among the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Rick Hendrick told Byron he was going to take him Cup racing when he was 17 years old.

“I don’t know if I could even put it into words,” Byron said. “We’re definitely going to enjoy this one.”

Wallace led Sunday’s race for 111 laps, a career-high for the 23XI Racing driver. Most of the race looked like it would belong to the No. 23 car, as Wallace had won his first pole of the season and recaptured the lead after Larson’s late wreck.

But Wallace’s speed couldn’t keep him in front, and he finished third, with Ross Chastain taking second.

“I fooled myself starting on top,” Wallace said. “We’re racing for a win. I just hate it. ... We’re so vulnerable in these cars.”

Byron moves to the top of the Cup Series playoff field, followed by Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher. In a race that featured 11 cautions, several playoff drivers also spun out, including Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Busch, who wrecked in Stage 1, moved all the way to 12th in the playoff standings, 61 points below the cut line. A relatively early crash by Truex eliminated him early, and the regular-season champion and No. 2 seed is now down to fifth.

The Round of 12 continues with two more races — Talladega and Charlotte — that could yield more unpredictable outcomes.