William Byron penalized for incident at Texas, Hendrick Motorsports to appeal

 

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    It was announced on Tuesday, Spetember 27th, 2022, that William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, will be fined a hefty sum of $50,000 following an incident during the "Autotrader EchoPark Automotive" 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, on Sunday. In addition to this fine, Byron will be docked 25 driver's points, alongside 25 owner's points.

The incident that necessitated this penalty occurred during the later half of Sunday's race. Denny Hamlin piloting the No. 11 battled the No. 24 machine of William Byron for position. Hamlin ran the No. 24 wide, causing contact with the wall for William Byron and minor issues for the team.

Soon after, Martin Truex, Jr.'s No. 19 machine blew a tire from the lead position, which allowed the yellow flag to wave. Little did Hamlin know, Byron was premeditating retaliation. Under the caution laps at Texas, Byron caught up with the No. 11 machine, and made heavy contact with the rear bumper. Denny Hamlin lost control of his FedEx sponsored race car, as the No. 11 sat in the infield grass. 

As the field drove by at pace speed Denny Hamlin would be required to restart in the 22nd position. Initially Hamlin drove back to his position, pre-incident, and thought twice of further retaliation towards Byron. Alas Hamlin would line up as expected. 

Following the 500 mile event, Byron commented on the incident. Byron told reporters that he bumped the No. 11 to show his displeasure towards Hamlin's move, that the contact was intentional, but that the spin was not.

"Pissed off, just not going to get run like that" Byron said in response to the incident. Hamlin seemed calmly disappointed, saying "I'll just add it to the list, of guys when I get a chance. They're going to get it".

This penalty, as it appears now, will severely jeopardize William Byron's playoff contention. Prior to this penalty, Byron sat comfortably 17 points above the "Round of Eight' cut-line. Now, after this penalty Byron enters Sunday's event at Talladega Superspeedway eigh point below the 'Round of Eight' cut-line, the second driver out. This scenario puts Chase Briscoe back above the cutline, by seven points.

Hendrick Motorsports intends to appeal this penalty. A ruling will be made in the coming weeks.

 

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