William Byron’s first words in his Victory Lane interview Monday night at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway quickly and perfectly explained why he spent the first day of 2022 Daytona 500 week competing in the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.
“It’s just so much fun,” the 24-year-old NASCAR Cup Series driver told FloRacing.” The racing is so hard.”
Byron won Monday night’s Clyde Hart Memorial Super Late Model 100 on Night 4 of the World Series of Asphalt as he prepares to start his fifth season racing for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series. He did so thanks to a clutch final restart with just four laps to go on the half-mile paved oval located just 12 miles south of Daytona International Speedway.
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🎤@WilliamByron @newsmyrnaspdwy @NASCARRoots Victory Lane!
📺: https://t.co/va96ut7wzm pic.twitter.com/wZiDSYRlcT
– FloRacing (@FloRacing) February 15, 2022
Byron got a solid jump on the restart, but Gabe Sommers battled back to make the battle for the lead a two-wide endeavor heading into the penultimate lap. Contact between the two allowed Byron to pull ahead for good.
“(Sommers) raced me great,” Byron said. “I felt like he was a little quicker and doing a better job throughout that middle portion of the race. I didn’t have enough turn, and I kept trying to search. Ultimately just got a good restart to race side-by-side I felt like forever. He gave me a little shot into Turn 1, but overall it was really fun.
How’s that for a start to speedweeks?
🏁 🏆 @WilliamByron #NAAPWS | @advanceautoparts pic.twitter.com/kpXN1BxoYI
– NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) February 15, 2022
Byron, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, became the first non-Floridian to win the Clyde Hart Memorial 100 since Steve Wallace took the checkered flag in the event in 2014.
Sommers, Sammy Smith, Derek Griffith and Justin Mondeik rounded out the top five.
Byron said he hopes to run at least seven more Super Late Model races in 2022 on top of his Cup Series schedule.
Below are more highlights from Monday’s Night 4 of World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing action:
- Carsten DiGiantomasso won Monday night’s 602 Modifieds feature after accomplishing the same feat Sunday night. The 20-year-old from Jackson, New Jersey, made a crucial save again Monday after making what could be the save of the World Series on Sunday night. He will look to go three-for-three in 602 Modifieds on Tuesday evening. Paul Hartwig Jr., Evan Rygielski, Blake Barney and Jaden Brown completed the top five.
- Craig Lutz held off Jimmy Blewett on the last lap of Monday night’s Tour Type Modified feature at New Smyrna. It marked Lutz’s third World Series of Asphalt victory in Tour Type Modified action. Jimmy Blewett, Patrick Emerling, Ron Silk and Teddy Hodgdon rounded out the top five.
- Michael Hinde won Monday night’s Pro Late Model feature in his No. 69 machine. It marked his third World Series of Asphalt win in four nights at New Smyrna. He has a chance for a fourth win Tuesday night. Conner Jones, William Sawalich, Jean-Philipe Bergeron and Bryan Kruczek completed the top five.
- Terry Fisher won the Florida Modified feature Monday for the second night in a row after finishing second in each of the first two nights this year at New Smyrna. Jerry Symons, Wayne Parker, Alan Bruns and David LeBeau rounded out the top five.
- Tyler Catalano won the Tour-type Modifieds B-Main event Monday night ahead of Chris Ridsdale in second, Jonathan Laurigh in third, Chris Dewalt in fourth and Bud McIntyre in fifth.
Tuesday’s Night 5 action at the World Series of Asphalt features the ARCA Menards Series East’s season-opener, the Race to Stop Suicide 200 presented by Place of Hope.
Racing is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed live on FloRacing.