NASCAR pledges to investigate Rick Hendrick allies accused of shielding William Byron's Championship spot

Rick Hendrick-owned Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron secured the fourth and final Championship spot at the Martinsville race on Sunday, but there has been accusation that other Chevrolet teams were involved in helping the #24 driver to achieve that.

NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer after the race confirmed that they will investigate the radio communications between drivers earlier this week that alleged that certain Rick Hendrick allies were involved in defending Byron’s spot in the Championship Race.

Sawyer also mentioned that these radio communications had not factored into the NASCAR’s decision to penalize Bell.

The ending of the Round of 8 elimination race was filled with drama and thrill as Byron and Christopher Bell were battling for the final Championship spot in the closing laps. Byron was trying to maintain the sixth position while Bell was moving forward to gain a position.

After the race, the radio communication of some Chevrolet drivers went viral on social media, where it can be seen clearly that race manipulation was done on the race track to help the #24 HMS driver to achieve the final 4 berth.

When Byron was running P6, the footage shows that his fellow Chevrolet drivers Austin Dillon and Ross Chastan were running side-by-side behind the #24, protecting the position and not letting any cars pass.

Due to this, questions were raised on NASCAR concerning the questionable radio communication.

In the post-race press conference, here’s what the NASCAR vice president replied:

“If you look at the other situations that were going on: #23 (Wallace), the cars behind the #24 (Byron), really no bearing at this time. We'll look at those at a later time and really dissect exactly what happened with the situation of the 20 getting up against the fence and then riding the fence, which we have clearly stated in our statement after Ross (Chastain) did that, that would not be accepted.”

Only time will tell if we will see penalties for drivers or whether there will be a change in Byron and Bell’s finishing positions.

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Rick Hendrick team vying for their first NASCAR Cup Series championship in Next Gen era

Rick Hendrick has yet to secure a NASCAR Cup Series championship since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022.

The #20 JGR driver received a penalty for attempting a wall ride move that cost him the final 4 berth and opened the opportunity for Byron to win his first NASCAR Championship. With the other three HMS drivers knocked out of the playoffs, the 26-year-old Byron has responsibility to make every lap count at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.

After Team Penske drivers Joey Logano (2022) and Ryan Blaney (2023) seized the NASCAR Cup titles in the first two seasons of the Next Gen era, they have set their bar high for the other teams.

Watch NASCAR's winningest owner Rick Hendrick's #24 HMS team in action at the Phoenix Raceway for the final showdown of the season on Nov. 10.