byron crashes on final lap at talledega, finishes 15th

Despite a fast start, William Byron shuffled out late, finishing a disappointing 15th place in the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway April 24.

Byron spent the first stage of the race towards the front of the field. Starting eighth, Byron settled in second behind the No. 99 car of Daniel Suarez until the first round of pit stops under green. He then cycled out in second again behind teammate Kyle Larson, eventually finishing fourth. 

In stage two, Byron was toward the front again, taking the lead after a round of pit stops under caution. He would hold the lead for the next 38 laps winning stage two, his third stage win on the year. 

However, under the pit stops before the final stage, Byron fell back outside of the top 10. He elected to be patient and worked his way up as high as third during the final laps. Yet, amid the chaos happening throughout the field, Byron was shuffled back outside of the top 10 with two
laps to go. 

On the final lap, the No. 23 car of Bubba Wallace spun out in front of Byron. Byron slowed to try to avoid Wallace, but he instead clipped him coming down the front straightaway and limped home in 15th place. 

Byron will compete next at Dover Motor Speedway this Sunday, May 1 for a 400-lap race on FS1 at 3 p.m. Byron has enjoyed
recent success at Dover, finishing in fourth place in his last two starts. The track is known as the “Monster Mile” due to its length of one mile and towering banks creating high speeds for a track of its size. 

Lipowski is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter