Byron Triumphant For Second Truck Series Win in a Row

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AMES, Iowa – RIS – William Byron took the lead on the final restart to claim his second straight win in the Camping World Truck Series at Iowa Speedway.  The 18-year old rookie won at Texas Motor Speedway last week and has three wins in 2016. 

Byron, driving the No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, swiped the lead from  Cole Custer on a restart with nine laps remaining, but a caution six laps from the finish saw the Charlotte, North Carolina, native have to defend his presence at the front.

In a two-lap shootout, the 18-year-old Byron fended off challengers Custer and  Cameron Hayley for a series-high third win in just his ninth Truck Series start.

"It's awesome just to be a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and to have the group of guys I do," said Byron from Victory Lane. "It's amazing. I'm so fortunate to be in this position. We had a couple setbacks there. I stalled it on pit road and I had a few setbacks on some restarts, but we kept after it until that last restart. It's awesome."

Custer, with new crew chief Marcus Richmond, led three dramatic laps following a Lap 188 restart which saw the race lead exchange several times before Byron sailed away permanently on Lap 191.

"For the first 10 laps or so, the others were probably better than us on four tires," said Custer, who recorded his season best finish. "After that it kind of equaled out. I thought I had them there when I took the lead.

"I can't thank Marcus and everyone enough. They worked their tails off all weekend. I really appreciate that. I think we're going in the right direction."

Byron, who led a race-high 107 laps, took the lead from pole sitter John Hunter Nemechek on a Lap 54 restart and led until the event's third caution. 

The running order changed dramatically following a caution on Lap 146 when five teams elected to take two tires during the final pit stop, handing the lead to Tyler Reddick.

During the stop, Byron stalled his truck leaving pit road putting him 10th on the restart. Using four tires to combat his mistake, the NASCAR NEXT alumnus began carving his path through the field and found himself back in contention when the fourth yellow of the night waved just 24 laps from the checkered flag.

Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Pts, BPts, Status, TLd, LLd, Lap
1) 5, William Byron #, No. 9 Liberty University Toyota, 37, 5, Running, 2, 107, 200
2) 11, Cole Custer #, No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet, 32, 1, Running, 1, 3, 200
3) 2, Cameron Hayley, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota, 30, , Running, , , 200
4) 10, Ben Rhodes #, No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota, 29, , Running, , , 200
5) 15, Tyler Reddick, No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford, 29, 1, Running, 1, 37, 200
6) 17, Daniel Suarez(i), No. 51 ARRIS Toyota, 0, , Running, , , 200
7) 3, Ben Kennedy, No. 33 Wheelwell Chevrolet, 26, , Running, , , 200
8) 9, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota, 25, , Running, , , 200
9) 13, Christopher Bell #, No. 4 Toyota Toyota, 24, , Running, , , 200
10) 7, Johnny Sauter, No. 21 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, 23, , Running, , , 200
11) 19, Timothy Peters, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota, 22, , Running, , , 200
12) 1, John H Nemechek, No. 8 Fire Alarm Services Chevrolet, 22, 1, Running, 1, 53, 200
13) 16, Spencer Gallagher, No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, 20, , Running, , , 200
14) 25, German Quiroga, No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota, 19, , Running, , , 200
15) 18, Daniel Hemric, No. 19 Oakmont Management Group Ford, 18, , Running, , , 200
16) 22, Austin Wayne Self #, No. 22 AM Technical Solutions Toyota, 17, , Running, , , 200
17) 6, Brandon Jones(i), No. 71 JELD-WEN/Menards Chevrolet, 0, , Running, , , 200
18) 14, Rico Abreu #, No. 98 Safelite Auto Glass/Curb Records Toyota, 15, , Running, , , 200
19) 20, John Wes Townley, No. 05 Jive Communications/Zaxby's Chevrolet, 14, , Running, , , 200
20) 26, Jordan Anderson, No. 66 Columbia SC - Famously Hot Chevrolet, 13, , Running, , , 200
21) 23, Jake Griffin, No. 63 Vatterott College Chevrolet, 12, , Running, , , 199
22) 29, Casey Smith, No. 07 Niemco Inc Chevrolet, 11, , Running, , , 198
23) 8, Nick Drake, No. 49 Haas Automation Chevrolet, 10, , Running, , , 197
24) 24, Brandon Brown, No. 86 Coastal Carolina University Chevrolet, 9, , Running, , , 197
25) 27, Derek Scott Jr, No. 02 CrossRoads Concrete/MPM Chevrolet, 8, , Running, , , 196
26) 12, Caleb Holman, No. 75 Morning Fresh Farms/Food Country USA Chevrolet, 7, , Accident, , , 192
27) 28, Travis Kvapil, No. 50 GasBuddy Chevrolet, 6, , Running, , , 191
28) 31, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 1 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet, 5, , Running, , , 191
29) 4, Kaz Grala, No. 24 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, 4, , Running, , , 189
30) 30, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Diamond Gusset Jeans Chevrolet, 3, , Accident, , , 173
31) 21, Parker Kligerman, No. 92 Technet Professional/BTS Tire Ford, 2, , Accident, , , 41
32) 32, Claire Decker(i), No. 10 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet, 0, , Fuel Pump, , , 5
# = Rookie, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.
Average Speed: 92.702 MPH
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 53 Mins, 16 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.431 Seconds
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 39 laps