William Byron Strikes Back!

August 04, 2025

August 04, 2025 | Edition #211

👋 Dear Motorheads,

Iowa Speedway’s return to Cup racing was anything but routine. Talk about bumper-to-bumper action, no-holds-barred restarts, or the strategy calls, the race had everyone on the edge of their seats. 

Amid the mayhem, Carson Hocevar once again found himself at the center of controversy, though this time, not entirely of his own making. A flurry of late-race cautions turned the event into a scramble for track position. On the flip side, NBC’s return to broadcasting duties wasn’t up to its usual standards.

🏁 Sunday’s Race Report

William Byron Outlasts Rivals in Iowa Showdown

🏆 William Byron has now won at Iowa Speedway in all three national series.

🤏 Chase Briscoe secured his third runner-up finish in the last four races by finishing 1.192s behind Byron.

🫤 Brad Keselowski ran the fastest lap at the Iowa Corn 350, with a time of 23.75 seconds.

📊 Other Notable stats from the weekend

  • This is the first time RFK Racing has had multiple cars finish top-5 in back-to-back races since Texas and Kansas in 2012.

  • William Byron has retaken the regular-season points lead with just three races remaining.

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 🔎 The In-Depth View

Byron Dethrones Elliott for the Championship

He finally did it! After heartbreaking fuel-mileage losses at Michigan and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, William Byron flipped the script in Iowa. The No. 24 driver stretched his final run to a staggering 144 laps, far beyond what would be the normal fuel window, to pull off his first win since the season-opening Daytona 500 earlier this year.

Byron looked lightning-fast as soon as the green flag dropped. He led the opening 67 laps in what was a relatively clean first stage, before strategy came into play after a series of cautions. Everything changed when Shane van Gisbergen spun on Lap 169. There were seven yellow flags during the final stage, with teams racing into the pits to gain track positions.

The No. 24 team made their stop early, well before the ideal pit window, and then had to hang on for dear life as the laps ticked on. Byron had to find just the right balance between fuel saving and running fast enough to hold off Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Blaney.

It was like a cat-and-mouse chase, with Blaney nearly wrecking himself on the final few laps going at full speed. Meanwhile, Byron used the lap traffic with precision to fend off his rivals, all of that with just 4% fuel left in his tank. Catch the frantic final laps from Iowa here.

His crew chief, Rudy Fugle, even admitted they weren’t sure the No. 24 Chevy would make it till the end. “From 30 to go until eight to go, we were able to save a really big chunk and get close,” Fugle said. “And then you're just hoping you pick everything up.”

Byron and his team were desperate for a win. Losing the points lead to Chase Elliott, and with only a single top 10 finish in the last five starts, it felt like the No. 24 team had hit a slump. But having endured the chaos and nervousness, this victory was a testament to the resolve and grit of the #34 team. See how Byron smiled in relief after breaking a 21-race winless streak.

The win at Iowa edges Byron closer to the regular-season title. From trailing a 4-point deficit to opening up an 18-point lead, it has been a big turnaround for the HMS driver. Here’s the full leaderboard right now.

🥊 In Today’s Debate

NASCAR’s Broadcast Woes Return With NBC

NASCAR fans have plenty to deal with. Whether it’s late cautions during the race, fuel gambles, or playoff battles. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, and the final few races of the regular season are turning into quite a nail-biting contest.

But what they shouldn’t have to worry about is whether the broadcast will actually show what’s happening. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened during NBC’s coverage of the Iowa race. FOX has faced backlash for untimely commercials during clutch moments, and the production quality didn’t help either. And, surprisingly, it seems like NBC is headed in that direction.

The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck summed it best: “Oh no, they didn’t just really go to commercial in the middle of that, did they?” And as you might expect, triggered fans didn’t hold back in expressing their frustration on social media.

It wasn’t an isolated incident either. A viewer pointed out that NBC “missed the 47 & 10 getting together and 47 scrubbing the wall. They switched camera views right as it happened.” For many, it gave them a feeling of déjà vu.

During the spring race at COTA, the FOX cameras failed to cover the thrilling battle between Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell. Instead of switching the angles, the camera showed a view of the grandstands. It was abrupt. Even the Fox booth went silent in frustration.

The ad timings also rubbed fans the wrong way. So much so that this race fan made a bold claim about how the Xfinity Series is doing better compared to the Cup events. It feels like not just the car, but even the broadcast partners in the feeder series are doing a much better job.

With Amazon Prime receiving plenty of plaudits for keeping the race on during ads, it wasn’t surprising to see fans asking for a change. One of them summed it up perfectly, saying, “Need an all-Prime setup at the next media deal.”

At this point, viewers just want to watch the race without too many ads or an outdated app getting in the way. Is that too much to ask?

🏁 Lucky Dog’s Quick Poll! 🏁

Who’s Worse With Race Broadcasts: FOX or NBC?

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🌪️ Cause for Controversy

Carson Hocevar Makes More Enemies

Carson Hocevar is in the headlines again. This time around, he’s not getting praised by Dale Jr. for his intimidating racing style. Rather, he is making the noise for the drama that followed after the race in Iowa. The No. 77 driver spun Zane Smith mid-race, and the Front Row driver attempted to retaliate. And as you might have already guessed, things got pretty tense after the race ended.

The controversy began on Lap 229 when Carson Hocevar got loose under Smith and sent the No. 38 Ford Mustang into the outside wall. The in-car camera footage shows that Hocevar didn’t make any sudden maneuvers against the No. 38 car. If anything, he was looking out for himself in anticipation of a wreck.

While the incident looked unintentional, the California-native wasn’t buying it. Eager to take revenge, Smith attempted to take a swipe at Hocevar just a few laps later, diving hard to the right and just missing his rear bumper. But that wasn’t the end of it.

After the race ended, Carson Hocevar’s post-race interview was interrupted by Ryan Bergenty, Zane Smith’s crew chief. And let’s just say he didn’t mince words in expressing his frustration with the Spire Motorsports driver. Check out the heated exchange between the two on the pit road.

Hocevar didn’t let this skirmish get to him; rather, he took to social media and just set the record straight. He posted a ‘please take a number’ image paired with Drake’s “IDGAF,” essentially telling the garage to get in line if they’ve got a problem with him. And the reality is, a lot of them do. With Ricky Stenhouse Jr. probably first in line. The Hyak Motorsports driver warned of retaliation after being spun in Mexico City.

Carson Hocevar’s sophomore campaign has been fast, aggressive, and unapologetically chaotic. And it doesn’t look like it’ll change anytime soon.

📈 Trending News

Yellow Flag Chaos Plagues Iowa Outing

Folks, if you tuned into the Iowa Corn 350 hoping for a clean, smooth short track race…well, let’s just say you’re probably disappointed. Sunday’s Cup race started calmly, but when the cautions came, they didn’t stop. In the middle of the race, it almost felt like drivers couldn’t go even a few laps without another yellow.

Atlanta had already set the bar high with 11 cautions, but Iowa Speedway surpassed that tally with 12 in the space of 72 laps. To put things into perspective, that’s a quarter of the race slowed down.

Denny Hamlin spun during a four-wide situation, while Todd Gilliland saw a side window come off his No. 34 Ford. Ty Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen, and Erik Jones all had their issues, but this wreck by Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick almost wiped out close to 10 cars.

Despite the chaos on the track, William Byron and his No. 24 crew managed the situation perfectly. They made a bold call to go into the pits early, save fuel, and let the cautions do all the work. And they did, with slow laps allowing the Hendrick Motorsports driver to stretch his fuel to 144 laps.

While others pitted after running short, Byron powered through at the expense of Brad Keselowski. The RFK Racing driver/co-owner had one of the fastest cars on the track and even won both stages.

But his final pit stop came too late, and even though he managed to salvage a third-place finish, he didn’t have enough laps to catch the leaders. The veteran racer even said, “We had so many yellows there in Stage 3… we just couldn’t get back by them.”

Even though the final 64 laps were caution-free, the damage was done by then. William Byron showed the perfect balance between pace and patience to hold off Chase Briscoe to take the win, while others were left wondering where their strategy went wrong.

  1. NASCAR World in Mourning as Team Owner & Legendary Driver Passes Away Aged 86 - Full Story

  2. Can Noah Gragson Recover? A 10-Race Freefall Raises Doubts About 2025 Trajectory - Full Story

  3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hails 20-Year-Old Prodigy After $50,000 Payout- Full Story

  4. William Byron Opens Up on Regular Season Championship as He Leaps Ahead of Teammates- Full Story

  5. Fans Divided As Rick Hendrick’s Prodigy Rumored to Make Full-Time Debut- Full Story

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