William Byron apologized to Denny Hamlin for costing him the championship

Fans were furious about the caution, as it altered the outcome of the race. Hamlin’s crew chose to take four tires during the caution, while Kyle Larson only took two. The decision paid off for Larson, who came out of the restart fifth while Hamlin was 10th. Hamlin could not make up the difference in overtime, with Larson finishing third in the race and Hamlin finishing sixth. That gave the championship to Larson.

Following the race, Byron came up to Hamlin to apologize. Byron then told reporters he felt badly for costing Hamlin a championship.

“It just doesn’t seem right, you know? He had beat us and we’re running second and it’s four laps to go, and you go into the wall and cause a caution. So it sucks, right?” Byron said. “I don’t want to be that guy. Even if I’m in the championship four, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t want to change the outcome, so it sucks.”

Hamlin seemed more heartbroken than angry after the race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said he believes taking four tires was the right choice and that winning the championship just “wasn’t meant to be.” Byron obviously felt badly about the role he played in that.

Hamlin had six wins during the regular season. He led 208 laps during Sunday’s race (the most in the field) and won a stage, but it wasn’t enough.