Heavy rain brought out the red flags at the Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, forcing NASCAR’s hand to cut short its Quaker State 400 Cup Series race. Concluding the race at 284.9 miles of the slated 400-mile run, final lap leader William Byron was crowned the title winner. Although his win was a hotly debated topic, Byron’s surprise comeback from a series of in-race setbacks more than justified his title win.

In light of these events, former HMS crew chief, Steve Letarte, exposed Hendrick Motorsports’ race-altering mistake that almost cost William Byron his Atlanta win.

Steve Letarte exposes HMS race-altering mistake

When William Byron pulled into Pit Road for fresh tires and fuel, the old right front tire slipped from an HMS crew member’s grip, causing it to go astray. With many cars pulling into Pit Road, NASCAR penalized HMS’s #24 William Byron for a safety violation caused by the stray tire. Ultimately costing the race winner his top-5 spot, Byron had to rejoin the race from the back. Byron’s troubles didn’t end there as Corey LaJoie spun him out, causing him to drop down a whole lap. 

Exposing HMS’ Pit Road mistake to be the cause of William Byron’s spin-out, Steve Letarte on the NASCAR on NBC podcast said, “That’s what makes this win so good right, because the team made a huge mistake, put him behind. He then gets wrecked. They made their own luck. He gets wrecked cause he never should have been back there.”

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Calling out his former team’s mistake that almost jeopardized William Byron’s Atlanta run, Steve Letarte was then blown away by HMS’ comeback in the latter half of the race.

“It was amazing”: Legendary crew chief blown away by HMS’ comeback

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Dropping down a whole lap following his spin-out, William Byron stayed out when a caution flew during stage two’s final lap. Quickly covering up the lost spots, the HMS star then snatched the lead from A. J. Allmendinger. While Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez put up a tough fight for the lead, William Byron successfully defended his spot up until lap 185, when NASCAR ordered cars to pit owing to the impending rain. Crowned the race winner by NASCAR owing to the last laps’ finesse, William Byron’s unanticipated comeback took Steve Letarte by surprise.

During the podcast, Letarte further added, “A lot of teams will break. Rudy (William Byron’s crew chief) and his leadership, they figured out how to get there, how do we get there from here. They never stopped racing. And really from lap 93 to the finish it was amazing because it was an efficient pit stop, efficient fueling, a great two tire call, a great call to stay out by Rudy Fugle.”

“So that’s everybody off the race track, and then the driver (William Byron) on the racetrack who is quickly becoming a superstar, with now 8 career wins, the famed #24 that Jeff Gordon won 93 times in. He is head down and digging, just doing what Rudy tells him, and all of a sudden he looks up one time for the choose and he goes, ‘Holy crap! I’m in fourth!,’” said the former crew chief, blown away by the surprising turn of events.

Having more wins this season than any other driver, will William Byron add another championship win to HMS’ already impressive 14 championship titles?

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