William Byron makes feelings known on Denny Hamlin’s failure to clinch maiden NASCAR Cup championship

William Byron recently spoke about Denny Hamlin’s unfortunate outcome at Phoenix Raceway, where the latter’s championship hopes were dashed due to a late-race wreck. The Hendrick Motorsports driver expressed his sympathy towards Hamlin and explained how the unexpected tire failure caught him off guard.

During the Cup Series championship race, Hamlin displayed a dominant performance by leading for 208 laps. He was in the lead on seven separate occasions and set the fastest lap time of the race. However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse when Byron suffered a tire failure with just three laps remaining. This incident forced Hamlin to pit for fresh rubber, putting him at a disadvantage as Kyle Larson had already left his stall with only two right side tires, leaving Hamlin in the fifth row on the bottom lane.

The overtime restart did not work in Hamlin’s favor, as Larson crossed the finish line ahead of the final four contenders to claim his first Cup Series title in the Next Gen Era. In a post-race interview with NBC Sports, Byron expressed his regret for the situation, stating, “Yeah, it stinks, right?….Denny was on his way to it. I hate that. There’s a lot of respect there. I obviously do not want to cause a caution. If I had known what tire it was, known that a tire was going down before I got to the corner, I would have done something different. Yeah, you just feel like a passenger. It sucks.”

Byron later apologized to Hamlin for triggering the caution and ultimately finished 33rd in the running order, while Ryan Blaney of Team Penske emerged victorious in the 319-lap event. This race marked Byron’s second consecutive front row start.

Reflecting on his tire failure, Byron shared his disappointment for wrecking out at Phoenix. He mentioned that he had sensed something was amiss during the final stages of the race but had hoped to make it to the end without any issues. The No.24 driver explained, “I don’t know, three laps to go, I’m thinking, Let me get to the end. I felt something funny off of two, thought it might be a flat. I thought at the time if it’s left rear, you can kind of get back. It just went straight into three. Laid down on the right rear, went straight. I hate that.”

Interestingly, all four title contenders experienced flat tires during the race, as most teams had opted for air pressures below the recommended levels by Goodyear. Hamlin also faced clutch issues, adding to the mechanical setbacks that plagued his team throughout the season.

With a fourth-place finish in the driver’s standings, William Byron concluded his season with three wins, 11 top-5s, and 16 top-10s, boasting an average finish of 14.5. Despite the challenges faced at Phoenix, Byron remains optimistic for future opportunities on the NASCAR circuit.

This article was edited by Vignesh Kanna.