William Byron has locked up the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship a week early.
After a crash took out Chase Elliott — who entered Saturday's race at Richmond 42 points behind Byron — the door was opened for Byron to clinch the regular-season title.
A huge stack up involves a bunch of contenders! pic.twitter.com/lpdyz5K7hV
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 17, 2025
Byron and the No. 24 team capitalized on their teammate's misfortune, as Byron finished 12th to sew up the Regular Season Championship and the 15 playoff points that come with it.
Byron, the Daytona 500 champion and Iowa winner, won't have to worry about points in the regular-season finale at Daytona on Aug. 23, allowing the No. 24 team to go all out in search of its third victory of the 2025 season.
Elliott was relegated to a last (38th) place finish after the crash and is now in danger of losing second in the regular-season standings to Denny Hamlin.
Playoff points are awarded to the top-10 finishers in the regular-season standings. Every spot in the top-10 — save for first — will be up for grabs at Daytona in the regular-season finale.
2025 marks Byron's first Regular Season Championship.
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