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DOVER, Del. — William Byron found it was worth the wait at the Monster Mile.
After the Drive Sober 125 presented by the Delaware Office of Highway Safety was postponed Friday due to inclement weather, and the start was delayed again Saturday morning, the 17-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, was finally able to drive his No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish and raise the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship trophy Saturday afternoon at Dover International Speedway.
The delay didn’t slow down Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Collin Cabre, either, as the 21-year-old from Tampa, Florida, scored his first career victory.
Cabre became the sixth different driver from the NASCAR Drive For Diversity program to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race and gave Rev Racing, which has fielded the competition team for the program since 2010, its 17th win.
Cabre’s No. 2 UTI/NTI Toyota crossed the finish line 6.454 seconds in front of series veteran Eddie MacDonald.
Byron entered the event with a 13-point lead over teammate Scott Heckert and 14 over two-time Dover winner Austin Hill. But Hill dropped out of the race while running third on Lap 36 because of a mechanical issue, and Byron led enough early laps that he needed to just finish in the top 10 to ensure the title.
Bryon, who led 57 laps, wound up 15 points ahead of Heckert and 33 in front of Hill. Dalton Sargeant was fourth in points, seven back of Hill, and Rico Abreu rounded out the top five.
Abreu finished third in Saturday’s race after leading 10 laps, followed by Spencer Davis and Nick Drake.
JJ Haley, Corey LaJoie, Landon Cassill, Byron and Heckert completed the top 10.
Byron led the championship standings since the third race of the season. He completed the season with four wins, five top fives and 11 top 10s in 14 starts to become the fourth youngest champion in series history. At 17 years, 10 months and 4 days, he trails only Joey Logano, who was the youngest winner when he captured the title in 2007, Ryan Truex (2009) and Ben Rhodes (2014).
Byron also follows Dylan Kwasniewski (2013) and Rhodes in giving HScott Motorsports With Justin Marks its third consecutive K&N Pro Series East championship.
The Drive Sober 125 was originally moved to early Saturday morning after Friday’s rainout, and then additional rain pushed the green flag start to 12:30 p.m. Practice and qualifying was washed out and the starting lineup was set according to the rulebook.
The Drive Sober 125 will air on NBCSN on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. The race was carried live on MRN Radio.
Byron and the rest of the top NASCAR K&N Pro Series East drivers will be honored at the NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards at the Charlotte Convention Center/NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, Dec. 12.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY
Collin Cabre is all smiles in Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway after scoring his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory Saturday. Getty Images for NASCAR
