“I had zero clue”: William Byron explains his fierce collision with Ty Dillon at Las Vegas

William Byron collided hard with Ty Dillon during Stage 3 of Sunday’s playoff Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His No. 24 Chevy was all battered up from the impact, which ended the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s playoff run with only 31 laps to go.

Byron wasn’t told by his spotter that Dillon was pitting at the time. He thought the final pit cycle of the 267-lap race was over already. So he rammed Dillon’s No. 10 Chevrolet at full speed. Both drivers were unable to race after that and had to settle for DNFs. For Byron, it was his fourth DNF of the 2025 season.

Here is footage of the crash between William Byron and Ty Dillon:

Reflecting on the incident, Byron told PRN’s Brett McMillan

“I don't know what happened up there, but there was no indication from Ty that he was pitting from what I could tell. I had zero clue. It's pretty devastating right now. We will move past it and go to the next two weeks."

Byron, who led 55 laps, had the potential to win the race and make the Championship 4 directly. Instead, it was Denny Hamlin who emerged victorious in the 267-lap event. Rounding off the top five spots were Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Tyler Reddick.

Dillon, who is not in the playoffs this year, knew that it was a devastating blow for Byron and the No. 24 team. In his defense, the Kaulig Racing driver said he was told by his spotter that Byron’s spotter, Branden Lines, knew about Dillon coming to pit road. He wasn’t even looking in his mirror for that reason.

“Hate it for the Hendrick guys, hate it for Chevrolet that it had to happen that way,” Dillon said after getting ejected early. “I’m just trying to hit my points and get on pit road. He (Byron) hit me hard, so it’s an unfortunate way for that to happen.”

Next up for William Byron is the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Scheduled for next Sunday, October 19, the 188-lap event will be televised by Peacock (2 pm ET onwards) with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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William Byron signs multi-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports

Back in May, William Byron signed a four-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep him behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the 2029 season. The 27-year-old speedster is currently in his eighth full season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The two-time Daytona 500 champion is one of the most promising drivers in the sport in the NextGen era. Besides consecutive playoff appearances from 2019 to 2024, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has amassed 15 career victories, with the latest one coming in August 2025 at Iowa Speedway.

“We’ve built something special with the No. 24 team,” William Byron said in a statement. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue working with amazing people at Hendrick Motorsports who believe in me, especially Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick. We’ve accomplished some great things that we’re really proud of, but we have even bigger goals ahead. I’m excited to go after them with this team and this organization.”

Byron was just 18 when Hendrick Motorsports signed him for the first time. That was back in 2016. Two years later, Byron won the Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors. He is the only driver to have won in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy other than former driver and Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua