William Byron's The performance at Darlington Raceway was an uncommon sight in contemporary NASCAR, with Byron completely controlling most of the race. He dominated Stage 1 and Stage 2 by leading every lap, extending his lead for the first 243 out of 297 laps, with not even a single swap in leadership occurring.

The last occasion when a driver controlled every lap in a Cup series race belonged to Jeff Burton nearly 25 years back. However, Byron’s opportunity to achieve the NASCAR equivalent of a perfect game didn’t materialize as he had wished.

Even with an impressive display of control, once there was just one cycle of green-flag pit stops, Byron’s lead fell apart.

Nobody overtook him on the track, yet Byron dropped to third place. Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell executed the 'undercut' strategy during the sequence of green-flag pit stops. For the first time, he found himself stuck in traffic and had difficulty advancing. Ultimately, this cost him several positions. Ryan Blaney and eventual race winner Denny Hamlin Both of them possessed newer tires after completing a longer stint in the earlier session.

William Byron with Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo courtesy of: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

When a late-race yellow flag allowed Byron to reclaim his position near the top, he managed to move up to second place. However, this wasn’t enough to mask the disappointment following their display of dominance with the No. 24 vehicle throughout the race.

Initially, I'm extremely pleased with my team for putting in that kind of effort and preparation; having such a great car helped significantly," stated Byron. "It looked as though we were heading towards perfection since we seemed poised to dominate every lap. That made me very proud.

They could become quite confrontational once the green flag sequence started, and we ended up losing our grip during that phase. By the time we tried to regain our position, it was already too late. This is really disappointing. I’m certain this defeat will feel painful tonight. However, there were several encouraging aspects as well. The setback certainly hurts at present.

Byron, who claimed victory in the season-starting Daytona 500, remains at the top of the championship rankings with a 49-point lead over the driver nearest to him.

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