Tempers flare after William Byron restart penalty at Quaker State 400
Plenty of NASCAR fans were upset after William Byron was penalized in stage 3 of the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
Tempers flare after William Byron restart penalty at Quaker State 400 Plenty of NASCAR fans were upset after William Byron was penalized in stage 3 of the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Check out this story on courier-journal.com: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/motor/kentuckiana-motorsports/2019/07/13/quaker-state-400-william-byron-restart-penalty-causes-ire-fans/1727364001/
Rana Cash, Louisville Courier Journal Published 11:35 p.m. ET July 13, 2019 | Updated 9:43 a.m. ET July 14, 2019
SPARTA, Ky. – William Byron has been pushing hard for his first career NASCAR win. He's come close; very close, in fact.
And while five top-10 finishes in his last nine races is encouraging for the 21-year-old former Rookie of the Year, what happened Saturday at the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway had to feel like a blow.
That was 👎🏼. Bummer night after that. Thanks @AxaltaRacing@Hendrick24Team
— William Byron (@WilliamByron) July 14, 2019
It definitely felt that way to fans of the Charlotte, North Carolina native who've followed the course of the Hendrick Motorsports driver. Byron was penalized on a restart against Clint Bowyer on lap 184.
Both racers would have had a hard time wrestling the victory from Kurt Busch, who out-dueled his brother Kyle Busch, a two-time winner, on the final lap.
Still, Byron was in contention until the penalty that many blamed on Aric Almirola, Bowyer's Stewart-Haas teammate.
10 car clearly pushed him to help Clint.
— Brett (@ANewHop3) July 14, 2019
Bull!!!! Byron was being pushed from behind so he couldn't brake check like Bowyer did and wreck the entire field. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
— gochaseelliottgo (@gochaseelliott1) July 14, 2019
The 10 was jacking him up the whole way!
— Mark Allen (@MarkAllenRacing) July 14, 2019
On and on it went, with only a handful of notable exceptions
I liked how @NASCARonNBC showed @ClintBowyer speed didn't vary from pace car...till he launched....after @WilliamByron ... love it or hate it, rules are black and white for a reason, and @NASCAR got this one right!
— Greg Shiner (@Greg_2_penske) July 14, 2019
Byron finished 18th in the Axalta Chevrolet. Bowyer placed sixth.
Attempts to reach Byron immediately after the race were unsuccessful. He'd hoped to build on the Daytona race last week when he was the runner-up after the race was called due to bad weather.
More: What NASCAR Cup Series drivers thought about the track at Quaker State 400
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Byron won the Truck Series as a rookie in 2016 with Kyle Busch Motorsports. He then moved to the Xfinity Series, this time with the Hendrick team, and was again named Rookie of the Year after winning four races. He was the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year last year with four top-10 finishes.
Everything points to a promising career for arguably the best young driver in the sport. That could mean taking some lumps, too, as he did Saturday with the controversial call.
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