Byron, who led the most laps at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (117 of 400), emerged from a late-race round of green-flag pit stops as the leader.
However, a caution for a spin by Tyler Reddick sent the race-leaders down pit road with Kyle Larson the first off and in the lead on the restart with 21 laps to go.
Byron, who was working feverishly to get to Larson and challenge for the lead, instead got hit by Christopher Bell as the field briefly went four-wide. Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet hit the wall on Lap 380 and he limped home in 24th-place, the final car on the lead lap.
“It looked like … (Bell) just overcooked the corner and had the fronts locked up and nailed us in the left rear. So, I was just kind of restarting fourth there and trying to stay tight to (Josh Berry) and get a good restart. I just got tagged in the left-rear.” Byron said.
“So, yeah, just a dive bomb move on the inside on his part and it is what it is. I had a great race car. It was looking like it could be another win before the caution.
“That’s the way it goes.”
Already this season, Byron has led 385 laps – the most of any driver – and more than half of his total of all of last season (746). With his two victories, Byron is locked in the playoffs and currently third in the series standings.
Bell apologizes after placing blame elsewhere
After the race, Bell appeared at first to blame Ross Chastain, who was on his inside, for the incident that triggered the wreck with Byron.
“It was a pretty standard restart with (Chastain) behind you,” Bell said. “I tried to protect from him going to the inside and he still made it three-wide there at the last minute and there wasn’t enough room.”
However, well after the race, Bell posted a message on his Twitter account saying he had watched the replay and took the blame for the accident.
After watching the replay, I saw there was much more room than what I thought in the heat of the moment. Sorry @WilliamByron. https://t.co/ESQgXHjOtn
— Christopher Bell (@CBellRacing) A pril 3, 2023
Even before the accident, Bell said he faced an “uphill battle” virtually the entire race.
“We needed (the race) to stay green. It didn’t work out today,” Bell said. “It was pretty disappointing. I felt like we had enough speed in our (car) to be up there all day, but I had a couple of restarts that put us in the back.
“We would lose spots when the yellow flags would come out.”
