NASCAR Cup Series 2020 31 2020-08-29 2020-08-29 https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/thumb/xnepvg1599162649.jpg https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/poster/obdvg51599162638.jpg With his NASCAR Cup Series Playoff hopes on the line, Hendrick Motorsports’ driver William Byron earned his first career victory Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 regular season finale. The victory was an automatic berth into the playoffs for the 22-year old Byron – a hard-fought trophy in a typically full-contact, high-emotion contest on NASCAR’s famed Daytona high-banks to settle the playoff field. Byron took the lead from this year’s Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin on an overtime restart with two laps to go and with cars spinning out behind him, ultimately was able to hold off his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott by a mere .119-second. Hamlin finished third, followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. The 10-race NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin next Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Seven-race winner Kevin Harvick, the regular season champion, is the top seed and takes a 10-point advantage into the playoffs over six-race winner Denny Hamlin. With his win, Byron moved up to a ninth-place seeding. DiBenedetto starts his first ever playoffs seeded 16th. 1047560