Caution Clock Chaos: William Byron dominates first race of the CWTS Chase

William Byron celebrates after winning the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Credit: Rainer Ehrhardt 

by Courtney Horn

William Byron dominated at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and became the first Camping World Truck Series driver to secure a position in the inaugural Chase, Round of 6.

Byron lead 161 of 175 laps to secure his sixth victory of the 2016 season. He held a three-second lead for majority of the evening, but won by a 0.446 second margin of victory ahead of teammate Christopher Bell.

“We had a great truck all weekend," Byron said. "We were fortunate enough to test here a couple months ago and came with the right mindset on what changes to make. [We] just executed today, which was really good to see. Just proud of this whole KBM team and Liberty University.”

While Byron cruised to victory, many Chase drivers saw misfortune throughout the UNOH 175.

Brad Keselowski Racing’s Daniel Hemric spun on Lap 25 because of a cut tire that caught on fire, too. Hemric suffered a broken brake line, and returned after repairs to finish 28th. Hemric sits last in the Chase standings, 21 points behind the next round cutoff position.

John Hunter Nemechek was fighting for position with the No. 24 of Kaz Grala before he spun going into the corner. Nemechek battled back for a top 10, finishing ninth.

When Nemechek's No. 8 Chevy spun, Byron lost the lead under the caution, but regained it 15 laps later and held it for the remainder of the event. Byron holds the Chase standings lead by 16 points over two-time CWTS Champion, Matt Crafton.

A Look Forward to the Chase

The Camping World Truck Series heads to Las Vegas for the second race of the Chase. John Wes Townley earned his first series win a year ago at the track after leading 23 laps.

Five current Chase contenders (Peters, Kennedy, Nemechek, Hemric and Crafton) earned top-10 finishes at Las Vegas last season and will be looking for a victory to secure themselves into the next round of the inaugural Chase.

Catch Byron and the other seven Chase contenders as they battle it out at Vegas on Oct. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.