Disappointed William Byron breaks down Denny Hamlin's tactical brilliance that crushed his Darlington hopes
Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron lost a dominant NASCAR Cup Series race and came in second behind Denny Hamlin this past Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Byron had one of the best races of his career. He led every lap of the first two stages (243 out of 297 laps in total) but the fast final pit stop allowed Joe Gibbs Racing's Hamlin to snatch the victory.
Byron was leading with 50 laps to go but waited to pit during green-flag pit stops as other drivers, including Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell pitted earlier and used fresher tires to jump ahead of him. He came back in 12th place. During a post-race interview with Claire B Lang, Byron reflected on how things slipped away from him towards the end of the race.
"The team did a great job, a great car. We just needed control of the race there under green, and we lost that with the sequence. The 45 [Tyler Reddick] went really short, and you know, we lost a few spots under the green flag sequence, and that was the difference. So, we, you know, had a good, decent run that time," William Byron said.
Byron worked his way up to third after charging through the field on fresh tires but got stuck behind Hamlin's JGR teammate Christopher Bell, who made it tough to pass. When another caution came with a few laps to go, Byron’s No. 24 Chevy lined up on the second row. However, Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 team had a better stop and won the Goodyear 400.
"The 20 [Christopher Bell] did a good job kind of air blocking, and just kind of keeping us behind, and it took me a long time to get by him, and then had a great pit stop there at the very end, and was able to line up on the second row, just need the front row to have a shot to win here. So yeah, just, it sucks," he added.
William Byron, who is still leading the NASCAR Cup points standings, further said that he was proud of his team’s effort and hoped for more strong results this season.
Denny Hamlin's No. 11 pit crew powers him to victory
Denny Hamlin won his second straight NASCAR Cup race of the 2025 season at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, last week. The 44-year-old led just 10 laps but claimed his win at Darlington Raceway after his first win in Martinsville. Hamlin's 9.4-second pit stop after Kyle Larson's wreck got him out first before the final restart at the 1.366-mile oval track. He finished just 0.597 seconds ahead of William Byron.
"There's two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson," Denny Hamlin said.
The next race on the schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 this weekend.