NASCAR Barometer: William Byron Snatches Texas Victory

William Byron avoided mishaps throughout Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway to put himself in position to race for the lead late in the contest. Once his car got the clean air at the front, he marched past Bubba Wallace to lead the final six laps on his way to victory. It was Byron's sixth win of the season, and it made him the first driver to advance to the field of eight championship contenders that will fight for a chance to race for the championship at Phoenix. The win was against the run of play as Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson were poised to settle the victory between themselves, but when Larson lost control racing for the lead and spun into the wall, the opportunity arose for Byron to step forward and claim the afternoon as his own. 

Two races remain to fill the remaining seven playoff positions alongside Byron, and the first of those comes this week at Talladega Superspeedway. Larson's spin and crash Sunday leaves him eighth in the standings with Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch all on the outside looking in. However, Busch won at Talladega earlier this season, and another victory would change everything for his position in the standings. 

UPGRADE

William Byron - All Byron needed Sunday at Texas was clean air. Once he got that, he led the field to the checkered flag. The No. 24 spent much of Sunday's race running around the top 10, but several late restarts enabled him to race for the lead. Once his car was in position at the front, he pulled ahead to land his sixth race win of the season and move into the penultimate round of playoff eliminations. Byron and team can now rest comfortably, knowing they don't need to make any special happen at Talladega or the Charlotte ROVAL, and they will work these next two race weekends to be in the best position possible to race their way into the championship finale at Phoenix. The best way to do that is to maintain the momentum they have, though. Byron has two top-fives and three top-10s from 11 Talladega starts.

Tyler Reddick - Reddick avoided heading to pit road late in the first stage to gain track position, and that move enabled him to cycle to the front to win the stage and collect valuable points. A Daniel Suarez spin brought out a caution while Reddick was on pit road, which left the No. 45 a lap down. Later in the race, Reddick hit the outside wall hard, which was part of a chain reaction incident that again brought caution out on the track. It was a tough turn of events for the No. 45 that had early speed. While the race didn't produce the finish the team was hoping for, it shows that Reddick still has the consistent speed necessary to enable him to advance in the playoffs. Reddick has two top-10 finishes from seven Talladega starts. Those top-10s were a pair of seventh-place finishes that he picked up in 2020 and 2021. He finished 16th there earlier this season.

Bubba Wallace - The Texas race weekend started strongly for Wallace as he grabbed pole position for Sunday's race. He was the fastest car when the green flag fell and led much of the first stage, but he was one of several cars that opted to pit under a caution late in the stage, which left him without the segment win that seemed sure to be his. The team kept working to improve the car in traffic for Wallace, which paid off as he was able to again race for the lead late in the race. Wallace aggressively went for the point and got it as Kyle Larson lost control and spun alongside. One more restart left him battling Byron for the win, but Byron was too strong and Wallace slipped backward for a third-place finish after drifting high and allowing Ross Chastain through for second. Wallace is a former winner at Talladega, and still has the pace that can challenge for wins in the playoffs.

Ross Chastain - A second-place finish Sunday gave Chastain a much needed boost in the playoff standings. With some added stage points from the second segment, he got the current elimination round off to a great start. With two races left in the round, Chastain is now sixth among the championship contenders. He will be feeling optimistic that he can make the cut for the next playoff round but will still have to avoid trouble the next two weeks. As a former winner at Talladega, he should be feel confident of doing so. Chastain won at the track last spring and followed that up with a fourth-place finish last fall. He finished 23rd in the spring race this season but did lead three laps. While Talladega can be an unpredictable place, Chastain has more consistency than most, which puts him in a confident position this week.

Christopher Bell - On a day when several playoff contenders suffered devastating blows, Bell pieced together another confident showing to boost his chances of advancing. Bell started Sunday's race inside the top 10 and scored stage points in the first segment. Despite some issues in the middle of the race, the squad never gave up and took advantage of several late restarts to climb back up the order. On a day that could have ended in tears, the team walked away with a fourth-place finish that puts Bell fourth in the standings. The effort may not have been what they wanted, but they made the most of a potentially bad situation. Bell has two races left to navigate before the next round of eliminations, and he should feel good about what he accomplished last week. He finished eighth at Talladega in the spring and has a best finish at the track of fifth. Advancing in the championship fight could get closer with another clean run this weekend.

DOWNGRADE

Kyle Larson - The speed of the No. 5 machine came on strong late in the second stage as Larson chased down Bubba Wallace and made the pass for the lead. Once in front, Larson pulled ahead easily for the stage victory. He stayed there for much of the final segment until, after a late restart, Wallace held Larson tight to the inside and the No. 5 lost grip. Larson spun hard into the outside wall and out of contention for the victory. The bad finish for him left him falling down the playoff standings, too. With two races left in the round, Larson now sits in the eighth and final transfer spot. He and the team now have zero room for error in the next two races. Larson has three top-10s and one top-five from 17 Talladega starts. He crashed out of the spring race late, despite starting inside the top 10.

Kyle Busch - Busch complained of a tire issue late in the first stage only to spin and crash heavily. The contact was severe and left Busch driving the car back to pit road in reverse to minimize additional damage. After initial scans on pit road, the team was forced to take the car to the garage and retire from the race. It was the worst possible start to this round of playoff eliminations for the No. 8 team, and it leaves them with work to do in the next two races. They are now last among the playoff contenders with a 17-point deficit to the top eight transfer positions. The next two races, being fairly unpredictable, will present a nail-biting challenge for them to navigate with no room for any missteps. Busch is the spring winner at Talladega, but he will be wishing he wasn't in the position of needing a victory to reverse his luck from Texas.

Ryan Blaney - Sunday's race was shaping up nicely for Blaney to get a good start to the current round of playoff eliminations. The Team Penske driver scored stage points in both segments and was poised for a top-10 finish. The race finish didn't come together, though. Blaney was caught in a heavy pile up of cars late in the running, heavily damaging his machine and leaving him to crawl around the circuit  in an attempt to complete as many laps as possible before giving up for the day. His 28th-place finish leaves him behind the cutline in the playoff standings with an 11-point gap to the top eight. Blaney is a two-time Talladega winner, though. Penske cars have traditionally been among the top contenders at superspeedways and Blaney has a history of delivering the goods at these circuits. However, going to a place like Talladega, needing a result, is not the preference.

Austin Cindric - Sunday's outing at Texas was another bump on a long road of struggles for Cindric. He was one of the many cars caught up in a late crash, but he truthfully wasn't competitive from the start. He qualified a disappointing 32nd, missed out on stage points, and ended the afternoon 27th with a DNF. Sunday's finish is now the fifth in a row where Cindric has failed to finish inside the top 25. The contrast from last season when he won the Daytona 500 and collected another eight top-10 finishes along with his playoff appearance couldn't be more stark. With just three top-10s and no top-fives this season, Cindric is certainly in a slump. All focus must be on figuring out what the issues are that need to be solved to improve in 2024. Talladega might be a good spot for that rebuild to begin, too. Superspeedways are generally positive for Cindric, and he needs that boost now more than ever.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Chase Briscoe - Briscoe's 10th-place finish at Texas was impressive. It was his second top-10 finish at the track from three series tries. Impressively, despite starting 31st, Briscoe used cautions to grab stage points in the first segment. That speed was no fluke, either. He maintained that pace through the remainder of the afternoon to finish 10th for his seventh top-10 finish of the season. This team and driver endured one of the harshest penalties NASCAR has ever handed down earlier in the season, but their perseverance has returned them to the types of finishes they were getting before the infringement, which is great news as they look ahead to 2024. More top results could be in store this season, too. Briscoe has been good at Talladega, finishing fourth there earlier this season. Briscoe could be one to watch these last few races.