“This Is F*cked”: HMS Driver Makes Devastating Outcry as Bristol Chaos Tests Rick Hendrick

“God d-mn it, I knew this would f–king happen,” said William Byron. The Hendrick Motorsports driver couldn’t help but vent his frustration on the team radio after struggling for grip at Bristol Motor Speedway. With the final race of the Round of 16 playoffs underway, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the No. 24 Chevy racer, who is hoping to break his five-race winless streak at the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Night Race. However, if the radio exchanges are anything to go by, the 27-year-old is less than impressed by his crew chief, Rudy Fugle’s strategy.

With drivers experiencing significant tire wear in Bristol, positions were gained on pit road rather than track, and Byron felt his team’s strategy left much to be desired. The North Carolina native made his thoughts known in no uncertain terms, despite Fugle standing his ground.

Byron doesn’t mince his words on the team radio

Starting in seventh place, Byron finished third in Stage 1, showing lightning-fast speed at the short track to steadily gain track positions. But as the laps ticked on, tire wear took its toll, while Carson Hocevar and Alex Bowman continued to close the gap on fresher rubber. Urged to “Stay in it,” the racer couldn’t help but say, “This is f–ked, this is f–ked. Our right rears are f–ked.” But despite the temper flaring on the team radio, Fugle remained calm and collected and sent a measured response, saying, “This is your lap time, 17.60. We gotta keep going until we get an 18.0.”

After the race, William Byron said, “We only had one run that I felt like was weird with the scuffs. Other than that, all the tires felt pretty normal. It was just so weird and hard to predict. It was just chaotic. From around the 10th on back, there were just people running into each other, and then you had differences in tires. If they were four laps different, you just couldn’t make the corner, and wrecks would happen everywhere.”

The lack of tire wear has been a consistent issue on short tracks, particularly in the Next-Gen era, but it looks like the playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway didn’t face such issues. According to The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck, the race had already seen 14 lead changes 30 laps before the halfway point. Perhaps NASCAR has finally cracked the formula once and for all, especially if Byron’s worn-out tires after he pitted are anything to go by.

Bristol Motor Speedway hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for William Byron. The driver finished sixth at the short track earlier this year, and his overall career at Bristol includes 14 starts, with one win (2021), four top-five finishes, and nine top-10 finishes, despite competing in 14 races. During Stage 2 of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver made contact with Shane van Gisbergen, sending the Kiwi for a spin and prompting NASCAR to take the free pass away from the No. 24 Chevy after the incident.

William Byron opens up about racing at Bristol Motor Speedway

William Byron is having quite a season, isn’t he? The North Carolina-native has already won twice this season and has progressed to the Round of 12 in the playoffs. While he has entered Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway and Iowa Speedway already, the racer feels that nothing compares to the atmosphere at Bristol, comparing it to a football stadium that gives him an adrenaline boost unlike anywhere else on the schedule.

Sharing his thoughts on the short track, Byron said via NASCAR’s Instagram channel, “It’s cool. I think it’s just a really unique place… kind of has that football stadium atmosphere, which is rare for us, I feel like. So it just kind of gives you that little bit more adrenaline boost before the race than some of the places that are more spread out, like if you were to go to Pocono or something. It’s a little bit… the fans are really distant from you. So I would say just a much different feel here, like more of a stadium feel than other places were go.”

Ultimately, William Byron will feel there’s room for improvement if his playoff results are anything to go by. The regular season champion failed to break into the top-10 in any of the three races and ended up 12th at Bristol despite qualifying in seventh place. However, the Round of 12 marks the start of a new beginning, and while the Hendrick Motorsports driver hasn’t performed well at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the past, he will hope to switch the narrative at the 2025 Mobil 1 301.