Climbing into the driver’s seat of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, William Byron set out to preserve his spot at the top of the regular season points standings in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season as he and the rest of the field took the green flag Aug. 16 at Richmond Raceway in the Cook Out 400.
Despite a collision in Stage 2 and a 12th place finish, Byron maintained his 68-point lead to clinch the regular season championship title as the checkered flag fell Saturday night.
“It’s really the best 12th-place finish I’ve ever had,” Byron said in a press conference following the race. “We came in here and really just did a solid job. … We qualified solid. We always want more, but this is definitely our toughest racetrack.We just kind of came in here, had a solid plan and executed it.”
Still finding his footing in Stage 1, Byron could not sneak through to finish in the top 10 and accumulate any stage points. Despite being forced to pit after involvement in a scrum involving 13 other cars on lap 198, Byron managed a ninth-place finish in Stage 2, tallying up two more points to his overall score.
“We did a good job, just got some damage there with the big crash, and it hurt us a little bit,” Byron said.
Heading into the race, Chase Elliott was Byron’s major competition for the night, sitting just below him on the points scale. However, Elliott was unable to complete the final 202 laps following the wreck, along with three other drivers.
In Stage 3, Byron’s pit crew burnt through the last of their allotted eight sets of tires, so the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team had to focus on tire saving the rest of the night, sacrificing a trip to victory lane under the lights in Richmond.
“We got back to the top 10, and that kind of set us up for a really good Stage 3. Then all of a sudden, we were in the top five, and we just had that bad run where we could not hang on to all four tires really,” Byron said. “It was just a crazy night.”
This victory earned Byron 15 playoff points as well as a trophy and portion of prize money from the Cup Series Championship purse. The No. 24 driver also maintained a spot in the playoffs for the sixth season in a row.
Byron accumulated 839 points, placing him 68 markers ahead of Elliott, who remained at second. Byron secured enough of a cushion to head into the final race of the regular season as the crown holder.
The last race of the Cup Series regular season was held at Daytona International Speedway Aug. 23, where Byron claimed his second Daytona 500 victory in a row during the season opener in February, becoming one of five drivers in NASCAR history to ever win the event back-to-back. Going into Daytona, the champion was celebrated with a presentation of the Cup Series Trophy before hitting an unexpected bump in the road.
Following an inspection of the No. 24 racecar, Byron’s team was penalized due to an adjustment to a splitter made following the initial inspection. This penalty resulted in the ejection of Byron’s pit crew chief, Rudy Fugle, from the race as well as set Byron back further in the field to begin the race.
Byron finished Daytona in 19th place, allowing Kyle Larson to earn enough points to tie up the leaderboard for the Cup Series, with each driver earning 2032 points for the season and securing 32 playoff points. Despite this, Byron still holds the crown for the 2025 regular season.
Byron will enter his sixth playoff season beginning Aug. 31 at 6:00 p.m. EST as drivers take on Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. The race will air on USA and HBO Max.
White is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on X.
