Driver William Byron commemorates after winning the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. Bryce Harper, grand marshal for the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race, is presented prior to the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. Motorist Denny Hamlin pits throughout the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Traffic message boards on the major roads heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the weekend had a succinct message for motorists:

" This is a highway, not a racetrack. Decrease."

When the green flag fell Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports chauffeurs provided a similar edict to the Pennzoil 400 beginning field:

" This is a racetrack, not a freeway. Speed up if you want to catch us."

William Byron led a race-high 176 of 271 laps and drove previous Martin Truex Jr. heading into Turn 3 on the white flag lap to lead a 1-2-3 parade of Hendrick chauffeurs across the goal.

" This shows the ability our teams have and the ability to come together in tough situations," Byron said after speeding to his fifth triumph in 183 Cup Series starts and his first win at the 1.5-mile LVMS oval.

Chase Elliott, the Hendrick group's marquee driver and fan preferred, suffered a damaged leg while snowboarding Friday in Colorado and will be out forever. Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry finished 29th amongst the 36 starters, two laps off the rate of the Hendrick squadron, in an emergency backup role.

" I speak for everybody in the reality that we miss out on Chase out here," stated Byron, who became the third motorist to sweep all 3 race stages of an LVMS Cup occasion.

" I texted Mr. H (group owner Rick Hendrick) after practice; I felt truly excellent about the cars and truck and wished to sort of reassure that we were going to try to win for him due to the fact that it was a hard week."

Despite controling the race under overcast and windy conditions, it appeared Byron might need to opt for 2nd place behind colleague Kyle Larson until a late spin by Aric Almirola sent out the race into overtime.

Truex chose to avoid rather than pit for fresh tires - - most of the other pacesetters selected two - - and was a sitting duck when the race rebooted.

Byron's crew got him out on the track simply ahead of Larson and fellow Hendrick motorist Alex Bowman, who completed the 3rd 1-2-3 surface in the team's vaunted history.

Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric ended up fourth through sixth, with Truex fading to seventh.

After losing the lead throughout a third-stage pit stop - - Byron slid through his stall, lost time and rejoined the race in 4th place - - it appeared that Larson would be the one leading the Hendrick procession to the checkered flag.

The 2021 series and Pennzoil 400 champ led two times for 63 laps and constructed a five-second cushion on Byron prior to his young teammate slowly closed the space. Larson had a one-word response to the late yellow flag that rejected him the success.

" Damn," he said, forcing a smile.

" It's simply part of Cup racing, lap by lap (without event), then the yellow light goes on. Their pit team should have done a truly great job and got (Byron) out ahead of us."

The gusty winds expected to offer the field fits arrived as expected. They didn't negatively impact the motorists or the approximated crowd of 55,000 - - LVMS' greatest NASCAR event in numerous years - - that gathered under blankets and looked out from hoodies during the race's lots of prolonged green-flag sectors.

" I seemed like I was a little bit tight trying to browse lap traffic and the wind, and how that would change the handling," stated the 25-year-old Byron, who released his NASCAR career by playing racing computer game and simulators as a teen.

But it didn't change the managing enough for any of the non-Hendrick cars and trucks and chauffeurs to mount a serious obstacle.

" Getting that very first win of the year, it's been awhile because we won - - practically a year," Byron said as the teams began loading up for next week's race in Phoenix. "It's nice to kind of return to what we're capable of."