William Byron was running second when a costly miscue from Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 team derailed his run at Las Vegas last weekend. One moment of miscommunication between Ty Dillon and his spotter turned Byron’s near-perfect day into a disaster.
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Had things gone to plan, the Hendrick Motorsports driver would have walked away with enough points to stay comfortably above the cutline. Even Kevin Harvick couldn’t help but sympathize with him.
Byron had been in control for most of the afternoon, winning Stage 1, finishing third in Stage 2, and had led 55 laps. After undercutting teammate Kyle Larson by pitting one lap earlier, he had passed Larson and seized command late in the race. But the tables turned quickly. On Lap 232, Byron wiggled through Turns 1 and 2, surrendering the lead to the #5 driver.
Five laps later, Dillon peeled off to pit road, nearly 25 laps after the rest of the field had completed their stops, and Byron, unaware of the move, plowed straight into the back of Dillon’s car. In the blink of an eye, his dominant drive went up in smoke.
Byron limped away with a 36th-place finish and just 19 points, dropping 15 below the cutline heading into Talladega and Martinsville. Reflecting on the incident, Harvick broke down the miscommunication on his podcast, saying,
“There’s a number of things that could’ve gone a lot better here. When they go back, the #10 car of Ty Dillon never put his hand out the window. Like when I was coming to pit road, I always would kind of weave my car, put my hand out the window to make sure that the guy behind me knew I was coming. Now the #10 spotter says that he told the 24 spotter, and the 24 driver says the spotter never told him.”
Harvick explained that the bottom lane had been locked down most of the race, and from Byron’s view, Dillon’s car sat two lengths off the white line, standard positioning for pit entry that weekend. But Dillon was off-cycle by nearly 15 laps.
That’s probably why, “When he was pitting, I don’t think William knew… William didn’t think he was pitting because of where they were at from the cycle, thinking it was done, and then all of a sudden all that just compiled into a bad situation right there in a massive, massive wreck,” Harvick said.
@KevinHarvick reacts to William Byron’s crash with Ty Dillon at Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/TFvWTW1q2W
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) October 15, 2025
As for Byron, he planned to review his in-car footage before passing judgment, admitting he’ll “stew for a few hours” first. Still, his focus is now on the road to Phoenix, which runs through Talladega and Martinsville, and if he wants a third straight shot at the title, winning one of those races might be his only way through.
