As the NASCAR season nears its Phoenix finale, tension is at an all-time high—even among teammates. William Byron, racing hard to secure his Championship 4 spot, was infuriated when NASCAR gave priority to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson. Larson, who’d faced numerous setbacks in the Round of 8, seemed to be dragging Byron down with him. After pit-stop mistakes at Las Vegas and a chaotic run at Homestead, Byron felt his own shot slipping—and the frustration was palpable.

Multiple times this year, NASCAR has appeared to favor Rick Hendrick’s ‘golden boy’. That included granting him a waiver for missing the Coca-Cola 600 and also Kyle Larson dominating most of the Bristol playoff race. Criticism abounded among peers and fans alike, but not among teammates until now.

With tensions soaring at the Xfinity 500 race, William Byron was exchanging the lead with his teammates several times. After Chase Elliott won the first stage, Byron took the lead from lap 152. He retained it through a few cautions until losing it to a Ford group.

On lap 397, Carson Hocevar spun out while racing Alex Bowman, bringing out the eighth caution. But right before the restart, Kyle Busch lost his right front tire—and prompted yet another caution. Tim Bermann, NASCAR Cup Series Event Director, called it on the radio: “Put it (caution flag) out. I’ve got a tire in the middle of Turns 3 and 4.” HMS’ No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels guessed, “I’m wondering if we’re the leader.”

Branden Lines, the No. 24 spotter, opposed that and said, “They should leave it the same, we’ll see.” Yet Lines’ fears came true. Although William Byron was leading at first, NASCAR bizarrely granted the lead to Kyle Larson after Busch’s misery.

Bermann announced over the radio, “#5 is the leader.” That elicited a round of expletives from William Byron. “You’ve gotta be f***ing kidding me, dude.” Larson grabbed the race lead on lap 414 and held it almost till the end until one of his own teammates bested him.

Chase Elliott got past Larson on lap 476, and soon Ryan Blaney took the lead on lap 487. Meanwhile, William Byron lamented about his fast-falling position—he fell to sixth place. It was then that his Chevy teammates Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon executed the controversial moves to stay behind him.

Although the Martinsville race is shrouded with questions, William Byron can look ahead.

Phoenix holds a beacon of hope.

Hendrick Motorsports has been the top-performing Cup Series team this year. All four of its drivers clinched wins, and Kyle Larson’s six trophies are double that of his closest rivals. Even so, the HMS team finds itself walking on eggshells prior to the championship race. Larson bowed out of the Round of 8 after a tumultuous streak, and Chase Elliott’s runner-up finish was not enough.

Only William Byron is the torchbearer of hope after he edged Christopher Bell due to the latter’s penalty. He won last year’s spring race in Phoenix, and with another this Sunday, Byron would gain his first title. His team also leads on the 1-mile tri-oval with 13 trophies in 56 races.

The strong rapport in the No. 24 team might propel William Byron to his dream. Crew chief Rudy Fugle commented on that solidarity between him, Byron, and spotter Lines shortly before Martinsville. “I think we’ve grown a lot this year, honestly, the two of us. How we communicate, the things we’ve gone through – I think we’ve always trusted each other and believed in each other a lot but sometimes when you have to talk about some of the things that don’t go well and actually figure out some of those issues, you get better. You communicate. You work through things and we’ve grown a lot because of it.”

Although William Byron was on the edge in Martinsville, he can focus on Phoenix now. His maiden championship title is just a race win away; let us see if he reaches it.