Byron, Gibbs haunted by just missing Michigan NASCAR Cup win

“I’ll relive that restart, what lane to choose overnight, for sure,” said William Byron following his runner-up finish at Michigan International Raceway on Monday. “It seems like, always as the leader, you want to take the top. I’ve gotten beat twice here by the bottom. I had the lead on the bottom barely over him [Reddick], but he had a better car than us. He was a little bit faster.”

Byron won three races early in the season, but hasn’t visited Victory Lane since April. Despite having the lead and the preferred lane for the final restart, he was unable to keep eventual race winner Tyler Reddick at bay.

“Second sucks,” Byron shared. “Really proud of the effort. I feel like we’ve been trying to put weeks together like this. This is a really good step. Everyone did a great job on the team. Strategy was awesome. Car was awesome all day.”

Still winless, but looking better on points

Ty Gibbs was the driver who pushed Reddick into the lead, but he wasn’t able to clear Byron himself. He had to settle for third as he continues this three-year mission to become a winner at the highest level of the sport. 

Michigan was his 75th Cup start and his tenth top-five finish. “Yeah, I feel like we definitely were in contention for sure,” said Gibbs. “I needed to get up sooner off of two to clear the 24 [Byron]. Just missed it by a little bit. After that, it takes a lap to get momentum.

“Definitely a little frustrating, but we’ll take it. It was a good day. Thanks to everybody that helps my program out.”

Unlike Byron, Gibbs was racing for a lot more than a race win on Monday. He is one of the drivers in that perilous ‘bubble zone’ where every point counts in the fight to make the playoffs. He entered Michigan just 18 points above the cut-line, more than doubling it to a 39-point buffer with this podium finish. Even still, the young driver’s thoughts remained on the win that could have been.

“It definitely is good to have a good points day, (but) definitely wish we could have won and locked ourselves in. Winning usually takes care of everything.”