Update: Byron keeps Kansas starting position after suspension part change approved
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UPDATE: NASCAR announced they will not send William Byron to the rear of the field Sunday after evaluating a broken suspension part in the upper control arm. The failure in Saturday’s practice was determined to be a part issue and not that of the No. 24 team, so Hendrick Motorsports has been allowed to make the change without penalty.
During the morning practice session, Byron felt a mechanical issue with his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and pulled the car to pit road. The team found a broken part in or around the upper control arm that needed to be changed before qualifying, which Byron was permitted to participate in.
The suspension change is normally considered an unapproved adjustment and would have forced Byron to give up his starting position for the Hollywood Casino 400.
“What I felt was I was coming off of (Turn) 4, coming down the front straightaway, and the wheel just kind of jerked to the left and felt like I unloaded the wheel, so I knew it was something steering-related,” Byron said. “Unfortunately, at first, we couldn’t really find it, and then when we started messing with the wheel here sitting on pit road, it’s a broken right-front suspension piece. So, pretty substantial suspension component.
“We’ve never had that happen; probably just running really fast around here. Hopefully, we get it fixed. Our Raptor Chevrolet had a lot of pace, so I felt really good about our car and was just going to try to run 20 to 25 laps and luckily, it didn’t happen on (corner) entry. It could have been a lot worse. It happened there at the end of the trioval, so we’ll be able to fix the car.”
Byron clocked the second-fastest lap in practice for the issue. He was among the first group of drivers who took the track Saturday morning.
The highest driver on the playoff grid on points after the opener at Darlington Raceway, Byron has a 45-point advantage on the cutline. Byron finished third at Kansas Speedway in the spring after starting from the pole. He has seven top-10 finishes at Kansas in his last eight starts.
