Hendrick Motorsports drivers are cursed when it comes to double-duty weekends. Remember, Kyle Larson tried to do the three-peat at Homestead and Bristol, and on both occasions, he missed out by a single win, either the trucks or the Xfinity. Now, this curse has been passed down to William Byron, who snagged a thrilling win at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Xfinity race, but came just short at the Coca-Cola 600. He swept the three stages, led the race high 238 of 400 laps, but Ross Chastain had other ideas and made a late race pass on the #24 for the win.

“It’s frustrating, I don’t really have any words for it, I wish we won,” said Byron after the race. And why wouldn’t he be frustrated? This was the third year in a row that he came within a touching distance of bagging his second crown jewel win. But despite the heartbreak, he didn’t spoil the marquee event, the first one covered by NASCAR’s new partner, Amazon Prime Video. And this gesture by Byron was appreciated by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was leading the broadcast booth for the Coca-Cola 600.

William Byron is a class act

After the race, Byron stood on the trackside, still processing the sting of losing what should have been his career-defining win. “He was catching me and I was trying to defend and I felt like I put a good a couple good defensive moves on, and then just really didn’t get through three and four, got really loose over there,” said Byron, reflecting on his mistakes from the race, in a post-race interview. Though disappointed, Byron showed up to the Prime Video booth alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Unlike the FOX Sports broadcast, Prime Video keeps the coverage rolling, allowing the viewers to witness victory lane celebrations along with the post-race coverage. This includes a special segment, where the entire talent lineup comes to discuss the race in the infield area. Ross Chastain and Justin Marks even sipped beers to celebrate their big win. But the same cannot be said for the driver of the #24 car.

“How impressive for @WilliamByron who suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the 600 last night to come by and add his insight to the post race coverage. I was blown away to see him at the desk last night. He handled the misfortune with class. @SportsonPrime.” Dale Jr. posted on X.

“I feel like our team is right where we need to be. Like I said, it hurt really bad right now, but long term looking towards the playoffs and everything, I feel like our team is much stronger than we had last couple of years.” Byron said in the post-race interview, answering Carl Edwards and Corey LaJoie’s questions on the panel. The only positive for HMS driver was that he was able to bag home 65 of the possible 71 points from the race, and in a format where even a single point can decide the fate of the drivers, this was a huge win for him. And he has taken the point lead away from his teammate Kyle Larson, who just couldn’t catch a good break.

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Dale Jr. defends Kyle Larson after his disappointing end to the Double

Last weekend wasn’t a good day as a whole for Hendrick Motorsports, and it all started with Kyle Larson’s crash at the Indy 500. Trying his best to complete the 500 on time and fly back to Charlotte, Larson made a mistake, downshifted his No. 17 car and sparked a crash. Just like that, his bid for the Indy 500 was done, and now he had to focus on the Coca-Cola 600.

The first incident came in the first stage, where the No. 5 car spun across the racetrack, bringing out the first caution of the race. Despite the mishap, Larson dug deep and crawled his way back into the top 20, but he got collected in a pileup that sparked on lap 246. Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney also suffered a similar fate, but this result was like a dagger to Larson’s heart, a gut punch on a day that was supposed to be historic, yet ended in misery.

There were a few fans who questioned Kyle Larson’s ability to drive race cars, especially after his comments last year on being the best all-around race car driver in the world. But Dale Jr. wasn’t going to let the troll have their day and penned a note in support of the HMS driver. “What we don’t see are the meet n greets, photos, shoots, team meetings, travel, and more photos shoots and media requests… his plate is already full with those things in NASCAR and The Indy 500!! It’s a Herculean undertaking in May times 10. Unreal.”

Both Byron and Larson have something to prove for the rest of the year. And given how competitive the two drivers are, the rest of the Cup Series season is expected to deliver fireworks and more drama.