William Byron loses crew chief after failing pre-qualifying inspection for NASCAR Talladega race

William Byron was one of three NASCAR Cup Series drivers who went through a pre-qualifying inspection on Friday. His car, however, failed multiple times and received penalties ahead of Sunday’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.

After qualifying infractions, NASCAR ejected Byron’s crew chief at #24 Hendrick Motorsports team, Tyler Jones, for the rest of the race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Meanwhile, his team also lost the pit stall selection for Sunday’s YellaWood 500, the fifth of 10 events in the 2022 playoffs.

William Byron’s team, however, managed to pass an inspection on the third attempt and were able to post qualifying laps on Saturday. The #24 driver secured a P9 starting position after he made it to the second round at a speed of 179.212 mph. Meanwhile, his team has indicated that they will appeal the penalty.

The two other entries who also failed the pre-qualifying inspection on Friday are #16 Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric and #31 Kaulig Racing for Justin Haley. Both teams lost their respective crew chiefs as well as pit stall selections for this week’s race.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-native currently stands 10th in the playoff standings, eight points below the cut-off line. He had earlier received a 25-point penalty for bumping Denny Hamlin during the caution period last week at Texas Motor Speedway. Before the penalty, Byron ranked third in the playoff standings.

Byron was the only playoff driver that saw his #24 Chevrolet car fail inspection twice in the Cup Series playoffs. Not having a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway will not be an easy job for Byron, but he will have to perform well to confirm his spot in the next round of the playoffs.

---

William Byron’s odds of winning YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway

Heading to Alabama, William Byron sits top of the betting odds table, at +1200, to win Sunday’s second race of the Round of 12 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Byron has a second-best average finish of 6.00 after Denny Hamlin so far in the first four playoff races of the season. He finished eight, six, three, and seven at Darlington Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway, respectively.

Catch William Byron at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at 2:00 pm ET. Coverage of the race will be live on NBC and MRN.