Charlotte native William Byron wins Xfinity race in OT at home track

William Byron won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte.

The born-and-raised Charlottean and Cup Series star for Hendrick Motorsports led 71 of 205 laps in a hard-fought overtime BetMGM 300 victory at his home track.

There were eight natural cautions Saturday, including five over the final 50 laps. Wrecks on several late restarts occurred, and the final race that leads into the Coca-Cola 600 ended in an overtime finish — the series’ seventh through 13 races this season.

“Growing up and watching races in the stands, and then going through the summer shootout, and then coming back here for Xfinity, I always put a lot of pressure to run well here,” Byron said. “(Charlotte) just has good energy around it. I love being home and everything like that.

“Here and Darlington are definitely my favorite places, and this place has always been tough — learning the nuances of the track, trying to perfect those things — and it definitely gives me confidence being able to win for the first time here.”

Byron, the back-to-back Daytona 500 champion, returned to the lead when he passed Justin Allgaier following the final restart. Connor Zilisch finished in second place, Nick Sanchez third, Allgaier fourth and Dean Thompson fifth.

Sammy Smith initially finished in fifth place and was disqualified for failing to meet the minimum weight requirement following post-race inspection, NASCAR announced Saturday night.

Many of Byron’s family and friends were at the speedway to witness his win Saturday. The local crowd was on its feet as Byron burned out his No. 17 car. Some fans chanted for him to climb the fence, and Byron joked in his post-race news conference that he’s got a race to run Sunday even if he felt he were more athletic.

“It’s motivating, and I think it’s a little bit less pressure,” Byron said, looking ahead to Sunday. “You can just focus on having a good race. And we want to win badly. On the Cup side, I feel like we’ve been really close this year in a lot of instances, and we haven’t gotten the win. Want to get back on track with that and just execute a full race.”

Charlotte’s own William Byron locked in at Hendrick

William Byron is staying in his Cup Series ride.

The 27-year-old Charlotte native has signed a four-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports, the team announced Friday. Byron will continue driving the No. 24 Chevrolet through at least the 2029 season.

A Charlotte Country Day School graduate and Cup Series rookie of the year in 2018, Byron has racked up 14 career Cup wins and six consecutive playoff appearances. He remains the only driver other than Jeff Gordon to drive the iconic No. 24.

“If you look at other sports like the Yankees, the Patriots or whoever, they’re always going to be known for their history, and that’s what you want,” Byron said Saturday. “All I can do is try to continue to add to that and bring some new flavor and excitement to the No. 24. We have a lot of the same sponsors, like Axalta. The cars look new and different but similar and carry that history, which I love.

“I love being part of a historic car number and being able to check my new boxes off the list; like hopefully winning the Coca-Cola 600 would be awesome. I think somebody was saying that Jeff was the last one to win the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same year. Would be awesome to add to that legacy.”

Kyle Busch is staying at Richard Childress Racing next year

Richard Childress Racing is sticking with its two-car operation — and Kyle Busch isn’t going anywhere.

Busch, the 40-year-old and two-time Cup Series champion, will return to the No. 8 Chevrolet through at least the 2026 season, RCR announced Saturday morning. The veteran remains on a winless streak that dates all the way back to his June 4, 2023, victory at Gateway in his debut season at RCR.

Busch will remain teammates with Austin Dillon as the organization moves forward with its current structure.

“There’s a lot of things happening behind the scenes,” Busch said. “It’s a great place to be, a great place to work, a great atmosphere, a lot of grit and determination with a lot of people up there in Welcome, North Carolina. We have certainly had our battles. It’s been fun, but yet challenging. It definitely isn’t easy. This sport is very, very tough, very, very close and challenging.

“We know those areas in which we can improve both behind the wheel, on pit road, in engineering, all of the above. This is just the pinnacle of that, and I hope to continue to build on our successes that we’ve been working toward for the last two years.”

Official results from the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte

This story was originally published May 24, 2025 at 8:47 PM.

Shane Connuck

The Charlotte Observer

Shane Connuck is a former journalist for The Charlotte Observer