NEWTON, Iowa (AP) William Byron was already locked into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and was second in the regular-season point standings heading into Sundays race at Iowa Speedway.

Still, Byron didnt like how things were going heading into the closing stretch of the regular season.

Byron had five finishes of 27th or worse in the last eight races, and coming to a track where he has had success in the past, he wanted to regain some confidence with the playoffs approaching.

I think weve been fast every weekend, Byron said. I mean, I cant think of a week when weve been slow, its just the results havent come together. And it was starting to wear on us a little bit and starting to create some kind of, Whats going to happen next?

What happened next, though, was Byron getting his second win of the season on Sunday, gambling on fuel mileage for a win that he thought had changed the momentum of his season.

Byron went the last 144 laps of the 350-lap race without a stop, and a third stage filled with caution flags helped him conserve enough fuel to get to the finish.

He left Iowa Speedway, where he has now won in all three of NASCARs series, with an 18-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott for the regular-season title.

This is going to kind of put the pendulum the other way, Byron said.

Byron won the season-opening Daytona 500, and has eight top-10 finishes this season, including three second-place finishes. But he had a 37th-place finish at Atlanta, a 40th-place finish at the Chicago street race, and 31st-place finish at Dover. He was 16th last week at Indianapolis, when he had to make a late pit stop for fuel.

Surviving to win this one is something that crew chief Rudy Fugle expected.

Hes an awesome driver, Fugle said. I think hes the best driver, all-around, in the field right now. Hes mine, and I should say that. But I really think hes maturing and getting the experience to show that off. Hes very well-diversified, and then hes a fighter. Hes got a hard line and fights through anything. Theres no quit in him.

Byron had fuel-mileage issues late at Michigan, and again last week at Indianapolis. Even with that, Fugle knew he could still gamble with his driver.

Those are things that hes gotten better as well over the years, rolling with the punches and what happens next, Fugle said. And next thing you know, youre leading and you get a chance to win.

Byron admitted he was nervous as the laps dwindled on Sunday.

I knew what to expect, he said. I knew what to look for, and all that in terms of if I ran out of fuel. But I was just thinking about preserving as much as I could, doing a lot of different things in the car, lifting early and just not using a lot of throttle percentage. So just the guys did a really good job coaching me on what to do.

Byron thought there was a little fuel left in the tank at the end.

I felt like if I could get off of (turn) four, come into the white (flag), I could win the race, he said. So thats kind of what was in my head. And that was mostly true. When I did the burnout, at the tail end of the burnout, I had the fuel pressure come up. So I dont know how many laps that would have been.

Now, Byron said, he has new fuel to get to the playoffs.

I really feel like we needed to win a race like this, we deserve to win a race based on how weve grown all year, and it just wasnt happening, Byron said. Its is just a big relief for us to have one kind of go our way. Weve just been running so well this year, I feel like this is going to be a big momentum boost for our team.

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AP NASCAR:

美联社爱荷华州牛顿电 —— 威廉·拜伦（William Byron）已提前锁定NASCAR杯系列赛季后赛席位，并在常规赛积分榜上排名第二，即将参加本周日在爱荷华高速赛道举行的比赛。

尽管如此，拜伦对常规赛收官阶段的进展并不满意。

拜伦在过去八场比赛中五次以第27名或更差的成绩完赛。如今来到这条曾让他取得过成功的赛道，随着季后赛临近，他希望能重拾信心。

“我认为我们每个周末都跑得很快，”拜伦说道，“我的意思是，我想不起有哪一周我们速度慢过，只是成绩始终未能如愿。这种情况开始让我们感到有些疲惫，甚至开始让人产生‘接下来还会发生什么？’的疑虑。”

然而接下来发生的是，拜伦在周日赢得了本赛季的第二场胜利，他冒险采用燃油策略取胜，并认为这一胜利扭转了整个赛季的势头。

拜伦（Byron）在350圈的比赛中，最后144圈未进站停靠，而充满黄旗警示的第三阶段帮助他节省了足够燃料抵达终点。

他离开爱荷华赛道时，已在NASCAR三大系列赛中实现全胜，并以18分的优势领先亨德里克赛车运动队友蔡斯·埃利奥特，锁定常规赛冠军头衔。

拜伦表示：“这将会让钟摆摆向另一个方向。”

拜伦（Byron）赢得了赛季揭幕战戴托纳500的冠军，并在本赛季八次跻身前十名，其中包括三次获得亚军。但他在亚特兰大站仅列第37名，芝加哥街道赛排名第40位，多佛站则以第31名完赛。上周在印第安纳波利斯站，他因需在比赛尾声进站加油，最终位列第16名。

车队主管鲁迪·富格尔早就预料到能挺过难关、赢得这场比赛。

“他是一位出色的车手，”富格尔说道，“我认为他是目前赛场上最全能的车手。他是我的车手，我理应这么说。但我确实认为他正在成熟起来，并积累了足够的经验来证明这一点。他技术全面，而且是个斗士。他意志坚定，能克服任何困难，从不轻言放弃。”

拜伦（Byron）在密歇根站后期以及上周的印第安纳波利斯站都遭遇了燃油里程问题。尽管如此，富格尔（Fugle）仍认为可以放手一搏，让他的车手冒险一试。

“这些年来，他在应对突发状况和后续发展方面也变得更加得心应手，”富格尔说道，“转眼之间，你已处于领先地位，并获得了取胜的机会。”

拜伦承认，随着周日比赛圈数的减少，他感到紧张。

“我早有心理准备，”他说道，“我清楚要注意哪些情况，尤其是燃油耗尽时的应对措施。但我当时只想着尽可能节省燃油，在车里尝试了各种方法——提前收油、尽量减少油门开度。团队在指导我如何操作方面做得非常出色。”

拜伦认为油箱里还剩一点燃料。

“我当时觉得，如果能顺利通过四号弯，见到白旗（最后一圈标志），我就能赢得比赛，”他说道，“这就是我脑海里的想法。事实证明这基本没错。但当我做烧胎庆祝时，在动作快结束时燃油压力突然上升。所以我不确定还能再跑多少圈。”

拜伦表示，他现在有了冲击季后赛的新动力。

拜伦表示："我真心觉得我们需要这样一场胜利。凭借全年的进步，我们理应赢得比赛，但胜利迟迟未至。这次终于如愿以偿，对我们来说是巨大的解脱。车队今年表现一直很出色，我相信这场胜利将成为团队前进的重要动力。"

美联社纳斯卡赛车专题：