I SWEAR TO RICKY BOBBY that I had William Byron in the #1 spot of my NASCAR Top 20 Power Rankings....initially.  But after having a guest on my podcast that knows the inner workings of the racing world better than I do, I moved him back to seventh.  Does this mean William Byron will be the new #1 this week?  Probably not because having a win doesn't automatically move you into the first spot.  But William Byron winning the Daytona 500 on the 40th Birthday of Hendrick Motorsports is a remarkable feat on its own.  
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​The odds were in Hendrick Motorsports favor to get the win with three of the top five drivers at the final restart belonging to their garage with Byron, Bowman, and Larson.
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​One thing is for sure about racing at Daytona.  It really doesn't matter where you start the race.  One slip up can turn someones bad night into someone else's good fortune.  Byron started in 18th and won the race.  One of the biggest movers of the day was Corey LaJoie who ran up front almost the entire night after starting the race back in 29th and finished in 4th.  And Noah Gragson, who started all the way back in 38th, in his first race in the #10 car, finished in 9th.  

As for the pole sitters, Joey Logano showed speed all night and was unfortunately collected in a wreck on lap 191.  He led the most laps with 45, but ended up finishing in 32nd place.  As for the Michael McDowell, who started on the outside of Logano, he would have engine trouble and would finish 24 laps down at the checkered.  

My favorite driver, Kyle Busch overcame multiple issues on the evening, was involved in a scrape up, a loose tire, too many men over the wall in the pits..... and he had a shot at making a move in the final ten laps.  But he would finish in 12th.  

The top five would be Byron, Bowman, Bell, Lajoie, and Wallace.  

Winning the Daytona 500 is a career achievement for any racer.  But Daytona takes a lot of luck to be the last one standing.  So, as far as moving Byron up the power rankings, that's a given.  But should "luck" be the main reason why he jumps all the way to the top spot?  I'll have my power rankings out on Wednesday! 
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​Jeff Demers