William Byron finds out the hard way what NASCAR fans have known for years

So many issues when it comes to NASCAR drivers running closely together and misjudging one another can be pinned, justifiably or not, on the spotters and the difficulty that comes with trying to ensure pinpoint accuracy between vehicles racing at over 180 miles per hour.

To say that that played a part in Sunday's major incident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway would be an understatement, but even miscommunication alone would not have led to what unfolded between Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron and Kaulig Racing's Ty Dillon.

Dillon, who was running 35th and not on the same lap as Byron, intended to pit from in front of him off of turn four of the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas, Nevada oval.

Byron obviously had no indication of this, which is where the miscommunication part comes in. But Dillon did absolutely nothing to indicate this himself either. Not only was he not even on the bottom of the race track, he literally drifted up the track before abruptly slowing down to make the move to pit entry, resulting in Byron plowing into the back of him.

William Byron season may be ruined due to a perennial backmarker

Byron was running second at the time and was poised to finish the race well above the Championship 4 cut line, even if he didn't manage to win to punch his third straight ticket to the Championship 4.

Instead, he is 15 points below it, facing an uphill battle the next two weekends at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway if he wants to get back to the winner-take-all round.

There has naturally been frustration directed toward Dillon for his role in basically reshaping the entire playoff picture for no reason whatsoever, but Sunday's race brought back the question that several fans have been asking for years: how is he still in the highest level of NASCAR competition?

Over 12 seasons, Dillon has competed for 11 different organizations, and you can't help but wonder how he keeps getting these opportunities, because at no point has he demonstrated the ability to elevate a team or deliver consistently good results.

Sure, not all the teams he has been with have been teams you'd expect to deliver quality results, so you do have to temper your expectations. But whenever he's been matched up against a teammate, he has literally always lost. It was true in 2022 with Petty GMS Motorsports, which dropped him after one season. Teammate Erik Jones won a race that year, while Dillon finished no higher than 10th.

It was true again in 2023 with Spire Motorsports, which dropped him after he was handily outperformed by Corey LaJoie and finished last among full-time drivers in points.

And it's true again in 2025 with Kaulig Racing, where he's posted only a single top 10 finish compared to teammate A.J. Allmendinger's eight.

He has two top 10 finishes in the past five seasons. He doesn't have a top five finish in nearly five years. He's never finished higher than 24th place in the championship standings, and in three of his six previous seasons as a full-time driver, his top finish was no higher than 10th.

Fans have wondered for years and years how he manages to stick around; it's not like he's competing for his grandfather's Richard Childress Racing team like his brother Austin either, though Austin is notably a six-time race winner.

The fact that he seemed relieved, mentioning over the radio that Byron put him out of his misery after the wreck, only adds to the frustration.

And now Byron has had to pay the price, a price that could potentially cost the two-time reigning Daytona 500 winner a third consecutive Championship 4 appearance.

Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to host the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 19. Live coverage is set to be provided by NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET, so begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any upcoming NASCAR Cup Series playoff action!