William Byron entered the 2025 NASCAR season riding high. After finishing third in the championship standings last year and notching three wins, he looked every bit like Rick Hendrick’s new golden boy. With a young but polished demeanor and one of the most consistent pit crews in the garage, Byron seemed primed to take the next step and finally deliver that long-awaited Cup title. And for the first half of the season? He did just that,

William Byron won his second consecutive Daytona 500, racked up top-fives, led the standings, and kept even teammates like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson at bay. But as we entered the summer stretch, cracks began to show. Suddenly, the guy everyone pegged as a title favorite is struggling to finish a race cleanly. And now, the championship picture has a whole new feel.

William Byron’s summer slump puts regular season title in jeopardy

William Byron began the 2025 season by seizing the series lead right out of the gate. He followed his Daytona 500 win with impressive consistency. This includes a runner-up at COTA, 4th in Las Vegas, 2nd at Darlington, 3rd at Talladega, and 2nd at Charlotte. Now, these results firmly established him as a title contender. But since June, the wheels have fallen off.

William Byron, for different reasons, has suffered shocking finishes of 28th at Michigan, 27th at Pocono, a disastrous 37th at EchoPark Speedway, and recently again, a 40th at Chicago. Now, this is a concerning pattern given his usual steadiness. That slide has not just blemished his stat line. In fact, it has reshaped the regular season championship picture.

Yes, he still leads the standings, but teammate and championship rival Chase Elliott sits just 13 points behind. Kyle Larson lurks 19 back, followed by Denny Hamlin (-43), Tyler Reddick (-48), and Christopher Bell (-67). What once looked like a comfortable cushion is now razor-thin. Suddenly, William Byron’s regular-season crown is in jeopardy. So, why the sudden collapse?

A combination of bad luck and performance issues has contributed. For instance, at Michigan, William Byron dominated much of the race, leading 98 laps. But then, he ran out of fuel with just over a lap to go while trying to defend the lead. At Pocono, Byron’s team had to repair his car, sending him to the rear for the start. He struggled to recover and never contended for a strong finish.

Then, we all know what happened at Atlanta (EchoPark Speedway). Byron was swept up in a massive multi-car crash early in Stage 2, leaving him with heavy damage and ending his night prematurely. Now, at Chicago, Byron crashed in practice, breaking a suspension component. Starting from the rear, he suffered a clutch issue on Lap 1 and retired after just a single lap, a devastating end to the day for a competent road racer.

Now, with just seven races left for the regular season to end, William Byron needs to rediscover that winning magic to reclaim control of the regular season. Because right now, what looked like his moment may be slipping away. Let’s see what the next weekend at Sonoma brings, another unpredictable road course where Byron has shown flashes of brilliance before. Byron will now need to deliver his best under mounting pressure.

A self-inflicted setback at Chicago for William Byron

William Byron’s bid to solidify his regular-season championship lead took a dramatic hit in Chicago. But this time, the culprit wasn’t bad luck or someone else’s mistake. Rather, it was Byron’s miscalculation during Saturday practice. After topping the speed charts and looking poised for a strong weekend, Byron pushed too hard entering Turn 10 late in the session, lost grip, and slammed his No. 24 Chevrolet into the wall.

The impact broke the left-rear toe-link and left his team scrambling to make repairs, forcing Byron to miss qualifying and start from the rear of the field for Sunday’s Grant Park 165. Byron was brutally honest about the error. “I just… I am an idiot,” he admitted in a post-practice interview. “So, I just took a lot of shape through there and a lot of speed, obviously, I was just kinda getting my tires cleaned back off from leaving pit road.”

He explained that after pitting, he was bringing his tires up to temperature and began to push harder, but misjudged the available grip. “No, I had just pitted, so my tires were probably just coming up to temp again. I took it easy the first half of the lap, and I was starting to push, being close to the alternate start/finish (line), and just lost traction.”

The timing could not have been worse. Byron had been the fastest in Group 1 practice, more than three-tenths quicker than eventual race winner Shane van Gisbergen. But his decision to squeeze in extra track time backfired. It not only cost him a prime starting spot but also disrupted the momentum he’d built early in the season. The crash was the most severe among Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers that day. Interestingly, all four cars ultimately started from the rear due to various incidents and repairs, with only #48 Alex Bowman recording a top-10 finish for HMS at Chicago.

While Byron’s candor in owning up to the mistake stands out, the consequences are tangible. A lost opportunity to extend his points lead, and a reminder that even the best can falter under pressure. With the regular season crown suddenly up for grabs, Byron’s Chicago misstep could loom large in the championship narrative. What do you think has happened to William Byron’s season all of a sudden? Let us know in the comments!