William Byron crashes in NASCAR Las Vegas race

William Byron crashes while in second place in NASCAR Las Vegas race

• William Byron crashed into Ty Dillon with 31 laps remaining in the NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• The crash ended the race for both Byron and Dillon, significantly impacting Byron’s championship hopes.
• Dillon believed his team had communicated his intent to pit to Byron’s spotter.

William Byron slammed into Ty Dillon seriously damaging Byron’s NASCAR Cup Series championship hopes with just 31 laps left in the NASCAR Vegas race on Oct. 12.

Byron, in the No. 24 Hendricks Motorsports Chevrolet, led 55 laps and was in second place at the time of the crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He hit Dillon’s No. 10 Chevrolet in the rear as Dillon was slowing to go into the pits. The crash knocked Byron and Dillon out of the race.

Byron he did not realize Dillon was pitting. The sun also was in Byron’s eyes and smoke was rising from the track.

“I never saw (Dillon) wave; I had no idea he was pitting,” Byron told the USA Network. “I had no idea what was going on. No one told my spotter anything as far as I know. I’m just devastated.”

Dillon said he thought his spotter had notified Byron’s spotter he was pitting.

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“Maybe it was a lack of communication,” Dillon said after being released from the inside care center.

John Hunter Nemechek was also involved in the accident.

Byron entered the race ranked third in the playoff point standings with two top-10 finishes. He was 11th on Oct. 5 at the Charlotte Roval.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.