It was a tumultuous night for William Byron at the Darlington Raceway in the Cook Out Southern 500. The driver of the No. 24 was forced to exit the race prematurely in the final stage after his engine expired, resulting in a 37th-place finish.
Byron, who has failed to win in 2026, entered the NASCAR Cup Series Chase 13th in the standings. Following a tough result on Sunday night at Darlington, the Hendrick Motorsports driver finds himself at the bottom of the Chase in the 16th position.
Moments prior to Byron's motor blowing, the North Carolina native triggered a caution after spinning out due to a tire failure.
Byron was having a solid run at "The Track Too Tough to Tame" for most of the evening. The 28-year-old placed ninth in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2, aiming to put together a quality run to kick off the Chase. Yet, things were going well until they weren't.
Byron's tire failure happened during the final stage as his Valvoline Chevrolet went sliding through turns 3 and 4, which brought out the caution on Lap 315. On the subsequent restart, Byron suffered an engine failure, forcing him to take his HMS machine behind the wall.

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