William Byron had control of the race. With one lap to go at Talladega Superspeedway, he and teammate Kyle Larson were running first and second. Hendrick Motorsports looked set for a 1-2 finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race. But within seconds, both drivers’ hopes were gone.
When the race went into overtime, Byron lined up on the inside lane with Larson on the outside. The two Chevrolets worked together to keep the field behind them. As they came to the white flag, the plan was still working. Then, halfway around the track, Larson’s car began to lose speed. His No. 5 Chevrolet had run out of fuel.
That one moment changed everything. With Larson dropping out of the draft, Byron lost momentum. A pack of Toyotas led by Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, and Chase Briscoe raced past on the outside.
Briscoe took the win. William Byron was left spinning through the trioval as the cars behind him stacked up. He finished 25th. Larson, who coasted to the line, finished 26th. Byron said after the race (via NASCAR.com),
“We got linked together really good through one and two and the bottom. I got clear for a minute, and then just couldn’t get linked for whatever reason off of four. The outside had more energy, and then the 5 ran out of gas, so that hurt us even more.”
The finish hit both Hendrick drivers hard. Kyle Larson remains the last driver above the cutline, 36 points in. William Byron is 36 points below, first among those out. That means Byron must win next weekend at Martinsville Speedway to have any chance of reaching the Championship 4.
“Looks like we’ve got to win,” Byron said. “It looks like all the guys below the cut have to win, so we’ve just got to go there and do that. We’ve had two strong weeks but no results.”
Larson explained that he had done everything he could to make the car last. In his own words,
“I was just hoping it would make it to the finish,” he said. “But it started sputtering shortly after that, so I just got out of the way.”
William Byron now faces a must-win situation at Martinsville in the Xfinity 500 on October 26 to reach the Championship 4. He has a strong record there, having won first in April 2022, when he held off teammate Alex Bowman after a late crash. He won again in April 2024, when he charged from 18th to win on Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary weekend, leading 88 laps in a 1-2-3 team finish.
William Byron focused on balance and execution before Talladega
Before the Talladega weekend began, William Byron knew what kind of challenge he was facing. The Hendrick Motorsports driver entered the race 15 points below the playoff cutline after crashing out at Las Vegas. Speaking to reporters before Sunday’s race, Byron explained (via Jayski) that Talladega required a careful approach.
“Talladega is where anything and everything can happen and change quickly. We would like to collect stage points but also strategy will be big when it comes to fuel,” he said. “You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where your race could end early all because you pushed too hard for stage points.”
Going into the weekend, William Byron sat in a tough position. Kyle Larson was slightly safer in points, while teammate Chase Elliott and several Joe Gibbs Racing drivers were close behind.
The pressure was on Byron to deliver a clean, smart race and keep his championship hopes alive. Talladega’s unpredictability made that difficult.
In its last ten races, the track had had ten different winners. On Sunday, William Byron and the No. 24 team stuck to their plan. They stayed near the front, managed fuel, and worked with Kyle Larson to control the lanes. For most of the afternoon, it worked. But as NASCAR.com reported, once Larson ran out of gas, the draft fell apart, and Byron’s chance disappeared.
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