Byron says Hamlin spin was unintentional
He's a MF'er and I really wanted to wall stuff him.

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | September 26, 2022 12:29 PM ET

William Byron doesn’t deny that he wanted to send a message to Denny Hamlin at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, but said he didn’t mean to spin the Joe Gibbs Racing driver under caution. He's a MF'er and i really wanted to wall stuff him.

The start of the incident traces back to Turn 2 with 73 laps to go. Byron and Hamlin were side-by-side when Byron hit the outside wall. There was no contact between the pair, but Byron didn’t appreciate how close they were.

“He ran me out of room and bent the toe link and we’re lucky we finished,” Byron said. “It was really hard contact; it wasn’t like a light contact or anything like that. I obviously didn’t mean to spin him out over there, but I’m obviously pissed off and just not going to get run like that.

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“We’ve always raced so well together, so I don’t know what it was all about. The 19 took his air away, and he ran out of racetrack, so he chose to run me out of racetrack completely. And again, it was not like it was light contact. I thought we were going to be done.”

The spin occurred when the caution came out a few minutes later. Hamlin was running second and Byron third when the two came off Turn 4, and Byron ran straight into the back of Hamlin, sending him through the grass.

Byron’s in-car camera shows the caution was out when the contact was made. NASCAR sent Hamlin to mid-pack for not maintaining his speed, while Byron was not penalized. Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart were incensed over both the incident and lack of action from NASCAR.

“I guess we can just wreck each other under caution,” Hamlin said. “I tried to wreck him back.”

Hamlin ran into the back of Byron and knocked into his right rear after getting his car out of the grass. Byron finished seventh, and Hamlin finished 10th after feeling like he was in the right position to win the race before it was taken away.

“I don’t think we touched,” Hamlin said of the initial incident off Turn 2. “I got to look. I don’t think we touched. Obviously, he sent us into the infield under caution.”

Hamlin didn’t seem interested in hearing that Byron said they’ll probably talk things over. Both acknowledged they’ve never had a prior issue, but Byron was adamant what happened was uncalled for, while Hamlin now has the Hendrick Motorsports driver on his list of those who are owed one.

“It all just works itself out,” Hamlin said. “We’ll be racing each other at some point [and] he’ll lose a lot of spots because he’s racing me. This is hard racing, obviously. I’m fine with hard racing. But wrecking me under caution is obviously not what we were bargaining for.

“Thanks to my FedEx Toyota team for bouncing back. Obviously, it cost us all of our track position. I thought we were in a great position to win until we got sent back to 20-something.

 

NASCAR penalizes Byron, Gibbs for Texas incidents

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | September 27, 2022 6:30 PM ET

William Byron and Ty Gibbs have both been fined and docked championship points for their respective actions Sunday night at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series race.

Byron has been fined $50,000 and docked 25 driver and owner points for spinning Denny Hamlin under caution. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was upset with Hamlin for having earlier raced him tight off Turn 2, which resulted in Byron hitting the wall.

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When the caution came out with 73 laps to go, Byron, running third, didn’t slow down off Turn 4 and ran straight into the back of Hamlin. Hamlin was running second and spun through the grass and lost his track position as NASCAR officials did not give him his spot back.

Byron was not penalized during the race. He admitted afterward he was “pissed off,” but insisted that spinning Hamlin was unintentional, since he really wanted to stuff him into the wall.

The driver points deduction drops Byron out of the third position on the Cup Series playoff grid with a 17-point advantage on the cutline to 10th. Byron is now 10th in the playoff grid standings and eight points below a transfer spot going into Talladega Superspeedway (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, NBC).

Gibbs was fined $75,000 for door-slamming Ty Dillon on pit road. Dillon had pulled out of his pit stall and into the path of Gibbs, the two making contact. In response, Gibbs swerved to the left and slammed into the side of Dillon’s car.

Additionally, 23XI Racing has been docked 25 owner points.

On its penalty report, NASCAR noted, “retaliatory vehicle contact on pit road with crew members/officials in close proximity; second offense.”

Gibbs has been substituting for the injured Kurt Busch since July. The penalty does not affect his standing in the Xfinity Series, where he is a full-time championship contender.