Kyle Petty: The most exciting thing we saw at Charlotte was William Byron's 'pass in the grass'
After only 249 laps, the Coca-Cola 600 was called off, but at least William Byron gave us a highlight for the ages. Byron made a pass in the grass on not just one driver, but TWO drivers in the NASCAR race last night.
Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs were battling hard. Gibbs in the Monster Energy car and Reddick in the adult beverage Monster Beast Unleashed car. They looked great out front going at it for the lead.
Then, William Byron shot to the bottom of the track on the front stretch and made a pass through the grass. It was spectacular! A move worthy of watching over and over again. Unlike Dale Earnhardt’s version, this was an actual pass, and he got two cars!
Kyle Petty picked that as his most exciting moment from the race on his Hot Takes video this week.
“The most exciting thing we saw yesterday was William Byron’s pass in the grass,” Petty said. “It was not a pass in the grass, yes he passed, but it was astroturf, they paved that. They put turf over that for safety reasons so there’s no longer grass out there.
“Even the great pass in the grass with Bill Elliott and Dale Sr. was not a pass. They maintained their positions, that’s just a great name for a piece of art.”
That move was awesome. It was unfortunate that the race ended because we were seeing great racing. Up front, in the pack, everywhere – it was shaping up to be another top-tier intermediate race. Then the weather came in and ruined everything.
William Byron picking up speed again
The one thing I worry about when it comes to William Byron is a summer slump. Yes, last year he got that win at Atlanta, but it was a rain-shortened race at a track that can produce unpredictable finishes as we saw this season.
In 2022, the summer sank a hot start to the season for Byron. Even last year, outside of Atlanta, he wasn’t as fast as he was to start the season. Between Dover and Kansas, I was starting to worry a bit about this team.
Right now, Rudy Fugle and Byron have it going on. They aren’t as consistent as some of the other top contenders. At least, not at this point in the season. They have the ability to be consistent, but it has to just happen at some point.
William Byron delivered an electrifying highlight in the shortened race. If only we had a chance to see him make a similar move for the win at the end of 600 miles. Keep an eye on Byron, Kyle Petty thinks he’s the championship favorite now. I’m not convinced yet.