Byron Wrecks Late, Leaves Martinsville Early

William Byron had a solid night at Martinsville Speedway until a late wreck left him with nothing to show for his efforts. The penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series season produced a 35th-place finish for the LUO racer. 

Stage one began the night promising enough. Byron started in 13th, but slowly worked his way up throughout stage one. He made his way up to 11th by the competition caution on lap 60 and moved up one more spot to 10th before a caution with 27 laps to go. 

However, Byron pitted under that caution, pushing him back to 13th. He used his fresh tires to work his way all the way up to eighth by the time stage one was complete, earning him three stage points. 

Stage two once again proved to be a solid one for Byron. He restarted in 14th after pitting but moved his way up as far as ninth on lap 185 before losing spots on pit road. 

While running in 11th under a caution, crew chief Chad Knaus elected to have Byron stay out on old tires to gain some track position. The move ultimately backfired as Byron fell all the way back to 14th to finish stage two after restarting in sixth. 

The race went downhill for Byron in stage three. After moving up to eighth, Byron fell all the way back to 15th place when he got caught on the outside lane during a restart. 

With Byron running in 14th on lap 442, his right rear tire blew out while going into turn three. At that point, Byron lost control of the car and backed it into the wall, ending his night early at Martinsville Speedway.

The night came ended a tough week for the No. 24 team. Byron’s normal pit crew was sidelined due to positive COVID-19 tests amongst team members. 

However, the night did have a silver lining for Byron as teammate Chase Elliot won, giving him a spot in the championship four. Elliot will race for the championship next week at Phoenix alongside Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. 

Byron will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBC. If Byron places in the top 10, he would set a new career high for top 10’s in a season. 

Joshua Lipowski is a Sports Reporter and the host of the “Further Than the Cheap Seats” podcast. Follow him on Instagram at @j_lipowski23.