Sabrina Carpenter Gets NASCAR Race Invite From Daytona 500 Winner William Byron

It might've started off as a silly social media prank, but Daytona 500 winner William Byron really is shooting his shot at Sabrina Carpenter now ... telling TMZ Sports he'd love to welcome her to a NASCAR race!!

The 27-year-old was targeted by an X account fresh off Sunday's big win ... which made it seem like he celebrated his second straight first-place finish at the historic race by flirting with the "Espresso" crooner in her Instagram comments.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver leaned into the joke ... following up on his X account to prove he was a good sport about it all.

We caught up with Byron on Friday to get to the bottom of things ... and while it was all based on false pretenses, he certainly didn't distance himself from the idea -- while also giving props on the quip.

"They do a really good job with Photoshop nowadays," Byron said with a laugh. "It was a good parody account -- it's like that NBA Centel account. They did a good job."

"Maybe we can get her out to a race or something, that would be great. Or I can get to a show. That would be fun."

When we asked if he had a special message for the pop star, Byron got a bit shy ... but said, "Her music's pretty good!!"

We also got real for a bit and talked all about his incredible outing at Daytona International Speedway ... and how special it was to start the season on the highest of notes.