'Disappointing' William Byron comes up one spot shy of Coca-Cola 600 victory

William Byron led 283 laps and swept the stages of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but a late pass by Ross Chastain left the Charlotte native one spot shy of a victory in one of NASCAR's crown jewel events.

Byron, who won his second consecutive Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, was looking to become the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1997 to win both the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same season.

Unfortunately, Chastain's pass on Byron with six laps to go means that chance at history was erased.

"He was catching me, I was trying to defend," Byron told Prime Video regarding the finish. "I was getting a little tight, and then the scenario with the cars we were around, it was tough. He got a run on me, was able to get to the bottom and cleared me off of (Turn) 2. Disappointing, just to lead that many laps. Such a great effort by our team."

While the loss is undoubtedly disappointing for Byron, he did regain the NASCAR Cup Series points lead after Kyle Larson crashed and subsequently finished 37th. Byron has a 29-point advantage over Larson as the Cup Series heads to Nashville for the 14th race of the 2025 season.