RIDGEWAY, VA – William Byron is taking home a grandfather clock after his win at Martinsville Speedway Thursday night.
Making only his second start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 2016—after a blown engine knocked him out of last year’s Nashville race—Byron claimed a victory in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200.
In his last full season in the series in 2016, Byron won seven races before moving on to the Xfinity Series and finally to the Cup Series.
With Kevin “Bono” Manion on his pit box, and with input from Cup crew chief Rudy Fugle, Byron brought his Number 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road for the final time on Lap 83 of 200 and took over the lead when the trucks ahead of him pitted at the end of Stage 2 on Lap 104.
The 24-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, led all but two of the final 96 laps and beat runner-up Johnny Sauter to the finish line by 1.138 seconds.
Kyle Busch ran third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek and defending series champion Ben Rhodes.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Byron, who already has a Cup victory at Atlanta in hand this season. “Great crowd here at Martinsville. I’ve never won a race at Martinsville and struggled here when I was in late models.”
The race featured 11 cautions for 71 laps.