William Byron found trouble early in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet contacted the outside wall on Lap 21 after a bump from behind by Joey Logano. Logano was in the middle of a three-wide sandwich with Christopher Bell to his left and Byron to his right.
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Slight contact between Logano and Bell sent Logano’s No. 22 Ford up into Byron’s left-rear quarter panel, leading Byron into the wall before sliding there again in Turns 3 and 4. The caution flag waved two laps later for debris from Byron’s Chevrolet.
Byron’s No. 24 team, headed by crew chief Rudy Fugle, repaired a bent right-rear toe link within the allotted time of the damaged vehicle policy and returned to competition six laps down.
“Car feels fine here,” Byron radioed after the restart at Lap 31.
Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 winner, was unable to recover and finished 35th, eight laps down.