Byron, who had dominated the event and won the first two stages having led 176 of 271 laps, lost the lead during a round of late pitstops and it appeared his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Kyle Larson was set to cruise to victory.
But Aric Almirola’s spin seven laps from the end sent the race into a two-lap overtime. Martin Truex Jr elected to remain on the track while Byron and Larson came out second and third, thanks to two-tyre stops.
Byron powered past Truex entering Turn 3 with one lap remaining and held off Larson by 0.622 seconds to earn the win.
The victory is the fifth in Byron’s career and his first of the 2023 season. With fellow Hendrick driver Alex Bowman ending up third by passing Truex Jr, the Hendrick squad claimed its third-ever 1-2-3 finish in the NASCAR Cup series.
By a twist of fate, the top three lockout was also taken by the team’s remaining full-time drivers, with its fourth regular entry Chase Elliott out of action after suffering a leg injury in a snowboarding accident last week.
“Just been really confident about the group of guys that I have on this #24 team. They work extremely hard, and we spent a lot of time in the off-season just going through running at the sim with Chevy and running on iRacing and just trying to get better as a race car driver and as a team,” Byron said.
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images
“It’s all about the team. It’s a great pitcrew. Thinking of Chase [Elliott] back home. Wish he was out here with us. He’s a great driver, great team-mate. Wish he was out here.
“Honestly when we got back in traffic, it was a little bit tight, but we knew we had speed so we just had to have the right things play out, and Rudy [Fugle, crew chief] made a good call, so it was good.”
Bubba Wallace ended up fourth ahead of Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric.
Truex Jr’s late gamble didn’t pay off as he dropped to seventh at the chequered flag, as Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.
Chevrolet drivers have now won the first three races of the season for the first time since the 2010 season.
Xfinity series regular Josh Berry, who substituted for the injured Elliott, ended up 29th and two laps down.
NASCAR Cup – Las Vegas race results – 271 laps