William Byron said it “sucks” to have lost victory in the closing stages of the NASCAR 𓃲Cup Series race at Darlington.

Byron dominated a major chunk of the Goodyear 400, leading 243 out of 297 laps and winning Stages 1 and 2 after💧 qualifying the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on pole position.

However, his race came undone during a late round of green-flag pitstops, leaving him firm𓆉ly out of the podium p🔯ositions.

A late caution period, triggered by a crash for teammate Kyle Larson, allowed him to jump back up to second, but he still fini📖shed half a second down on race winner Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Speaking after the race, the ♎championship leader praised his crew for putting on such a dominant show at the 1.3-m𓃲ile circuit.

However, the feeling of dejection couldn’t es༺cape him as he missed ouജt on a second victory of the 2025 season.

“First off, realꦐly proud of my team, bringing that level of effort and preparation, and having a car like that,” he told the Frontstretch.

“For us to execute like that, it was looking like it was going to be a perfect race. We were going to lead every lap. Was really proud of that.
 
“Those guys could be aggressive on the other side of the green flag cycle, we lost control there. Once we lost control, too late in the going to kind of get back up there.
 
“Yeah, it sucks. I’m sur▨e it will sting a lot tonight. There’s still a lot of positives. 💎It stings in the moment, for sure.”

Byron lost places to JGR’s Christopher Bell and then-race leader Tyler Riddick (23XI Racing) o🙈n the pit road, before dropping behind Ryan Blaney and eventual w♔inner Hamlin with just 12 laps to go.

A rapid pitstop under the final caution allowed him to make up some lost places, but Hamlin was simply to🍷o quick in overtime for Byron to hunt him down for the lead.

Asked to explain where he lost the victory, the 27-year-old said: “We just needed to control the race under greꦜen and we lost it there with that sequence. The No. 45 [Reddick] went and we lost some positions there, that was the difference.”

“The No. 2♍0 [Bell] did a great job blocking an♛d keeping us behind, it took me a long time to get around him.”