William Byron: Losing Darlington NASCAR win after early dominance “sucks”
Denny Hamlin won the race after just leading 10 laps compared to a career-high 243 for William Byron.
William Byron said it “sucks” to have lost victory in the closing stages of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington.
Byron dominated a major chunk of the Goodyear 400, leading 243 out of 297 laps and winning Stages 1 and 2 after qualifying the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on pole position.
However, his race came undone during a late round of green-flag pitstops, leaving him firmly out of the podium positions.
A late caution period, triggered by a crash for teammate Kyle Larson, allowed him to jump back up to second, but he still finished half a second down on race winner Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Speaking after the race, the championship leader praised his crew for putting on such a dominant show at the 1.3-mile circuit.
However, the feeling of dejection couldn’t escape him as he missed out on a second victory of the 2025 season.
“First off, really proud of my team, bringing that level of effort and preparation, and having a car like that,” he told the Frontstretch.
“For us to execute like that, it was looking like it was going to be a perfect race. We were going to lead every lap. Was really proud of that.
“Those guys could be aggressive on the other side of the green flag cycle, we lost control there. Once we lost control, too late in the going to kind of get back up there.
“Yeah, it sucks. I’m sure it will sting a lot tonight. There’s still a lot of positives. It stings in the moment, for sure.”
Byron lost places to JGR’s Christopher Bell and then-race leader Tyler Riddick (23XI Racing) on the pit road, before dropping behind Ryan Blaney and eventual winner Hamlin with just 12 laps to go.
A rapid pitstop under the final caution allowed him to make up some lost places, but Hamlin was simply too quick in overtime for Byron to hunt him down for the lead.
Asked to explain where he lost the victory, the 27-year-old said: “We just needed to control the race under green and we lost it there with that sequence. The No. 45 [Reddick] went and we lost some positions there, that was the difference.”
“The No. 20 [Bell] did a great job blocking and keeping us behind, it took me a long time to get around him.”
