Garbage bag on William Byron's car had a beer can in it: 'A Silver Bullet in our air filter'

To start the Pennzoil 400, it looked like we were going to get a battle between Hendrick teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson. However, Byron was faced with an interesting dilemma early in the NASCAR race.

With high winds all weekend, debris was a real concern for all three NASCAR races. William Byron was the unlucky car that picked up a huge garbage bag, which covered almost the entire front end of the Chevy Camaro.

So, Byron dropped like a rock. His car’s water temperature overheated from 250 all the way up to 350 degrees. Of course, it cost him track position. Today, crew chief Rudy Fugle explained what happened and what they discovered when they got the bag off the car.

According to Alan Cavanna, Fugle told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio the bag had a beer can in it. To put it more succinctly, he said, “There was a Silver Bullet in our air filter.”

On @SiriusXMNASCAR, crew chief Rudy Fugle says the enormous trash bag that ruined the 24-car’s day had a beer can in it

“There was a Silver Bullet in our air filter” @TeamHendrick @WilliamByron

— Alan Cavanna (@AlanCavanna) March 4, 2024

Now, I don’t know the logistics that would make it happen, but if Coors wanted to bring the Beer Wars back for a few races, I’d love it. Byron in a Silver Bullet No. 24 – now that is something fans would enjoy seeing.

Even after taking a Silver Bullet to the air filter, William Byron and his team kept at it. They moved up through the field and managed to salvage the day with a top-10 finish. It wasn’t the easiest top-10 ever, but they managed to not get down and make the most of Sunday.

William Byron didn’t know what happened at first

It is a shame we didn’t get to see Byron and Larson race this one out between them. It would have been great with Tyler Reddick thrown in the middle of it all. Still, it is a bit hilarious that a garbage bag is what took Byron out of contention.

From his perspective in the car, it was hard to tell what happened. But he definitely noticed his car heating up.

“It was huge,” Byron said of the debris, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “It seemed to get stuck somewhere underneath, I don’t really know. I don’t know, I just know my temps went from 250 or whatever to 350 in like ten seconds, so I’ve never had that happen.”

So far this season, William Byron has finished P1, P17, and P10 in three races. Given the chaos of Atlanta and his garbage bag problem yesterday in Vegas, he’s lucky to come away with those finishes. If Byron wants to compete for a championship, it will be how he handles the bad days that make the difference for him.