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FONTANA, Calif. – Kyle Larson won the race, but William Byron bested the field of XFINITY Series regulars in one of the most competitive, hard-fought XFINITY Series events of the year at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday.
It wasn’t a win, but it was a well-timed boost of confidence for the rookie.
Byron finished fifth in the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, the top finishing XFINITY Series regular, just ahead of Roush Fenway Racing’s Darrell Wallace Jr. and JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler.
It was his second consecutive top-five finish and places the rookie second in the series standings, 17 points behind his veteran teammate Sadler.
A week ago Byron won the pole position at Phoenix and scored a career-best fourth place in the race – the showing buoying him for his debut on California’s two-mile oval.
“Been good lately to get some top-fives,” said the 19-year old Byron, allowing a smile. “We were able to make some good adjustments during the race today. I felt like we kinda struggled some in traffic getting the car to handle right. Ultimately, we got it to handle right, the guys did a great job on pit road, led a lap and got a good finish.”
Byron started the race from the sixth position and ran among the lead cars early on. Battling a rough handling car midway through the race, he praised his team for good pit stops and timely adjustments and was able to join in the dramatic final laps of tight racing.
“It was really fun,” Byron said. “It was a blast out there. I’d never been here before. You have a lot of options, so many places to run your car. It makes the hard work pay off.”