William Byron has been penalized by NASCAR with 25 penalty points and a $50,000 fine for spinning Denny Hamlin during a caution during the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend.
Prior to Sunday's Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway, Byron slips below below the cutline from third place in the playoff standings (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
With 3,041 points, Chase Briscoe advances to occupy the last transfer position. With 3,034 points, Austin Cindric is the top driver who is not in a transfer place. Next with 3,033 points is Byron.
Hendrick Motorsports said that it will contest the fine.At Lap 269, the driver was warned due to Martin Truex Jr. Byron closed on Hamlin as he slowed down and struck him in the back.
After the race, Byron acknowledged that the hit was deliberate even though he didn't want to harm Hamlin. On Lap 262, Byron was dissatisfied with the way Hamlin raced him.
As they left Turn 2 side by side, Byron felt as though Hamlin pushed him towards the wall. During the warning, Byron voiced his irritation.