Bad Luck Bites Byron, But Title Hopes Still Alive

gettyimages-2215621552 — NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 17: William Byron, driver of the #24 Valvoline Chevrolet, reacts during NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race qualifying heat #1 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 17, 2025 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

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A rash of ill fortune finally caught up with William Byron.

When he crashed out of last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway—through no fault of his own—the 31st-place finish cost him the series lead.

Byron now trails Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, a model of consistency this season, by 16 points. Three-time winner Kyle Larson, another Hendrick teammate, is third in the standings, 38 points behind Elliott.

For his part, Byron relishes a battle that’s staged within the same shop.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I think it’s a really good thing, because it’s elevating all of our programs and elevating the importance of this part of the season.

“It’s obviously always important, but when you have three of us going for it, it’s like, ‘OK, it’s going to take your best for the next five weeks.’ I look at it like it’s going to give you more of an idea of what the Playoffs are going to be like.”

Before the Dover race, Byron had held the series lead for 17 of 20 weeks, but only one finish better than 27th in the last five races has proven costly. That streak has been unlucky enough for Byron to acknowledge he might have been “snakebit.”

“You could definitely say that,” he acknowledged. “I try not to use the ‘luck’ word a lot, but if you look at Atlanta and Dover and how we got crashed, I mean we just got run over from behind. Like, I check up for the wreck, and not everyone does.

“So I guess in those two instances you could say that definitely we weren’t in control of those two results… It’s just part of the nature of the schedule and the way things play out.

“We’ve had top-five speed everywhere, but the results haven’t been there every week. Chicago was definitely on me in practice (a clutch issue), and Pocono was also on me in qualifying, and unfortunately those race results weren’t there. Then other things happened, but yeah, I think it’s still within reach—we’ve just got to do it.”