Kevin Harvick and Mamba Smith agree that William Byron’s Las Vegas disaster “Too far in the situation to abort”

On the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast on FOX, former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick opened up about William Byron's crash at the Las Vegas race. Byron was involved in a crash during the closing laps of the 267-lap race with Kaulig Racing driver Ty Dillon.

With 31 laps to go, Dillon attempted to enter the pits after facing some issues with his Ford Mustang. However, Byron was running second at that time and was tailing him. Following that, the HMS driver had nowhere to go, leading to a collision. The #24 Chevy driver plowed Dillon's Mustang from the rear and collected John Hunter Nemechek in the aftermath.

Later, the Kaulig Racing driver's crew chief claimed that he told Byron's crew chief that Dillon was entering the pit lanes. On the other hand, Byron stated that his crew chief never told him about the same, which resulted in a double DNF. Reflecting on the same, Kevin Harvick stated [15:30 onwards]:

"When he [Dillon] was pitting. So I don't think William didn't know he was pitting. said that in his interview, didn't think he was pitting because of where they were at from the cycle, thinking it was done, and then all of a sudden, you know, all that just compiled into a bad situation right there in a massive, massive wreck."

"That's probably the worst way to lose a race," Mamba Smith added.

"He was too far into the situation to abort," both Smith and Kevin Harvick concluded.

William Byron wrapped the Las Vegas race in P36, one spot ahead of Ty Dillon in P37. On the other hand, the Legacy Motor Club driver Nemechek was able to recover from the massive crash and finished the 267-lap race in P29. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin clinched his 60th career victory.

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"I think the 24 definitely underperformed": Kevin Harvick shared his take on William Byron's postseason performance

In a previous episode of the Happy Hour podcast, former Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick criticized the #24 Chevy team for underperforming in the 2025 playoff season. During the podcast, Harvick also praised Byron's teammate, Kyle Larson, for his performance in the postseason.

The #24 Chevy team has been struggling since the first race of the 2025 playoff season. During the Darlington Raceway event, Byron qualified 11th and wrapped the 367-lap race in P21. He has been consistently struggling to keep up with the playoff drivers this season.

Reflecting on the HMS driver's poor performance at Kansas, Kevin Harvick highlighted that Byron could have missed his chance to advance to the Round of Eight playoffs. However, Byron somehow managed to land a P9 finish to secure his spot. Following that, the former Cup Series driver stated:

"I think the 24 definitely underperformed. Their speed has been off. We went to St. Louis and thought, "Maybe they found something," but now it's kind of flip-flopped. Now the 5 car seems to be the one with more speed than the 24. They had a big miss at Kansas but managed to grind out a decent finish despite having no speed there. It was a big flop at Kansas. They're another team you just don't know about—maybe they’ll show up at Vegas, maybe not. They were awful at Kansas."

After the Las Vegas Motor Speedway crash, William Byron currently ranks fifth in the Cup Series playoff points table, with 15 points behind the cutoff line. Meanwhile, his teammate Kyle Larson ranks second with 35 points above the qualifying line.