By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
A shot at the weekend sweep for William Byron seemed imminent, but a late-race charge from Ross Chastain and lap traffic proved costly when it mattered most in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.
Byron was left with a runner-up finish, which left him frustrated after leading a race-high 283 laps and scoring three stage wins.
The race-winning pass happened with six laps remaining when Chastain passed Byron for the top spot in Turn 1, primarily after Joey Logano, whom was fighting to stay on the lead lap, made it difficult for the leader.
Despite a valiant effort from Byron to catch Chastain, the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet got tight and wasn’t able to get a run on him to get his second win of the season. All Byron could’ve done in that situation was defend his top spot but couldn’t after Chastain was clicking on all cylinders during crunch time.
“Ross was catching me, and I was trying to just defend. I was getting a little bit tight,” said Byron. “Then the scenario there with the cars we were around, it was tough. He got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of (turn) two.
“Disappointing just to lead that many laps, but such a great effort by the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet team.”
After winning Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, Byron continued his prowl at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Cup Series and attempted to hunt down his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson.
By Lap 43, Byron’s dominance came into true form after Larson lost control in Turn 4 and checked out on the rest of the competition. Capped off with an even superb pit crew who were able to get him out ahead several times. Motivation was at an all-time high the man who recently signed a contract extension at HMS through 2029.
However, the hunter becomes the hunted in the closing laps of Stage 3. Hamlin caught Byron and both put on a fascinating, hard-fought battle for the stage win.
HAMLIN FIGHTS BACK!
It's an old-school duel for the crown in Charlotte! https://t.co/LRiIqyUNtm pic.twitter.com/dlDnX79ZOL
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 26, 2025
When the dust settled, Byron held off Hamlin to get the stage win, collecting a perfect 30 stage points on the night.
No matter the challenge, Byron found a way to beat the competition until the final 20 laps when Chastain entered into the picture. Slower traffic would then factor into the equation, but missing in the race win battle was Hamlin, who had to pit with 12 to go after not having enough fuel.
Once Hamlin was out of the fray, Chastain continued cutting the gap on Byron. He’d get help from Logano, who ended up running the same lane as Byron, creating dirty air that ended up hurting his shot of winning his first Coke 600. Once Chastain slid up ahead of Byron, it was ballgame.
The pass. The win. The emotion. @RossChastain is victorious in the #CocaCola600! pic.twitter.com/liBvLVh0lZ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 26, 2025
Logano wasn’t the only racer that left Byron with a frustrating headache. He also had to worry about Tyler Reddick, who he nearly crashed into. All of those scenarios led to Byron’s shortcomings and gave Chastain the opportunity to snatch the victory away in Charlotte.
“I guess I just could have anticipated that last run a little better. I ran in dirty air for a long time and heated my tires up,” said Byron. “Then we lost a chunk of time, and the No. 45 (Reddick) about crashed in front of us. We’ll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that.”
If a consolation prize were to be mentioned, that’d be Byron heading to Nashville Superspeedway (Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime) as the new regular season points leader, 29 points ahead of Larson.
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