"Damn it, I wanted that one really bad," said William Byron after losing out to Ross Chastain in the battle for the win. "It just sucks, man. You're so close, and you know going to Talladega you know what that is. So just sucks, but proud of the effort."
Byron leaves Kansas atop the standings with a 34-point buffer, but he was one position away from not having to sweat at all over the next two weeks. If he had won, it would have been an automatic advancement into the Round of 8. From the drop of the green flag, it appeared that Byron had one of the best cars as he won the opening stage in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
However, he was also among those who chose to stay out at the end of Stage 2, collecting some more points while sacrificing track position. It took him the rest of the race to climb back into contention.
On the penultimate restart, there was a critical moment where Byron, HMS teammate Alex Bowman, and Chastain were battling three-wide for the second position. Chastain was ahead when the next caution flew, putting him on the front row with then-race leader Martin Truex Jr.
Byron quickly moved into the runner-up spot while Chastain cleared Truex for the lead, spending the final 20 laps chipping hundredths and tenths out of Chastain's small lead. Byron was closer than he ever was at the white flag, but it still wasn't close enough to get alongside. He crossed the line 0.388s behind Chastain.
"Yeah, just clean air," said Byron regarding what he needed at the finish. "I feel like he [Chastain] got the restart he needed to, and I was in the second row just trying to clear those guys. Once I got clear of them, my balance was okay. Just a little bit tight, but just kind of inching up on him. I needed probably, you know, for it to be a longer run being in second."
