William Byron had a car capable of winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, but he ended the day in the infield care center after a pit stop miscommunication resulted in a vicious crash.
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The incident occurred on Lap 236. Byron raced in second place while trying to recover from a big wiggle that nearly sent him into the wall. As he chased down teammate Kyle Larson, he suddenly came up on a much slower Ty Dillon.
Byron steered to the left in an attempt to avoid hitting the No. 10, but he had no time. His No. 24 slammed into the No. 10 from behind and lifted it off the ground. Byron's car then slid through the infield before backing into the pit road wall.
Big trouble for the No. 24 of @WilliamByron! pic.twitter.com/I2fncPZeWW
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 13, 2025
"I didn't know he was pitting. I didn't know he was pitting," Byron said over the radio after the wreck. His spotter responded and said he had no idea either.
"God d***, what was he doing?" Byron then asked. He also asked who he hit because he had no time to see the car number before the hard collision.
The replay showed that Dillon was not on the white line at the time of the collision. He drove close to the middle lane in the No. 10 Chevrolet while approaching pit road. This put him in the path of Byron, who remained focused on trying to regain the lead.
The spotters involved viewed the crash differently, which led to some miscommunication. Dillon's spotter remained adamant that he had indicated the intention to pit. Byron's spotter disagreed.
Ultimately, this miscommunication disrupted what had been the No. 24 team's best performance of the playoffs. Byron had led 55 laps, the first time he led any laps during the playoffs.
Byron won stage 1 to score 10 crucial points. He then added eight more points by finishing third in stage 2. However, he finished 36th in the race and fell to fifth in the playoff standings.
Byron is not the only playoff driver who failed to finish Sunday's Round of 8 opener. Ryan Blaney crashed in the opening stage and finished 38th. He fell to last in the playoff standings and into a must-win situation.
