Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron had a crushing end to his hopes of winning the Brickyard 400, being involved in a big wreck. Heading back to green on a restart during the Stage 2 run, Byron’s No. 24 was mired in traffic at the tail end of the field. Considering how precious the track position is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, everyone was bumping and banging to advance further up.

However, Ryan Preece tried to thread the needle going three-wide but it led to a massive crash. Harrison Burton locked out his tires forcing the traffic to go hard on the brakes. Byron tried to avoid contact, but he took a hit to the outside wall and spun across the track, crashing into the inside wall of the racetrack. There was no way the crew would have been able to salvage the #24 car after the damage it took.

“The 14 was making a much of the crazy moves down the frontstretch. Then kinda missed the corner in 2, pulled up right in front of me and checked us all up and got run over,” Byron said after being relieved from the infield care center. He also shared his thoughts on the absence of safer barriers on the inside wall, “I don’t really give a damn. I was hitting everything so just sucks it was a great race car and a shot to win probably but now we can’t.”

It was hard contact on both ends of the track for the driver, which left the fans worried for the driver’s safety and well-being.

Fans were concerned for William Byron’s safety after the crash

Brickyard 400 is one of the unique racetracks with a long straightaway but narrow racing surface. While it’s suited for open-wheel race cars, the usual moves of going three and four-wide don’t fare well at such a venue. That is exactly what led to Byron’s horrifying crash. Reacting to this incident, a fan wrote, “Gave me a heart attack for a second.”

After damaging the right front and hitting the outside wall, the No. 24 car was further launched towards the inside wall, where it took a terrible hit. The impact of the damage was such that the entire front end of the race car was dismantled, and the car had to be towed out of the racetrack. “That was a nasty nasty hit for William Byron. Holy f***.”

Usually, safer barriers are present on the inside walls as well. But with the long straightaways at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it is hard to barricade the entire length of the inside of the track with the safety barriers. Highlighting the big absence of safety measures, this fan replied, “Why isn’t there a safer barrier there?”

Along with Byron, AJ Allmendinger also suffered a similar fate and hit the inside wall. But after the caution was waived, he got his No. 16 car back rolling on the wheel. Although, the HMS driver wasn’t moving at all and was at a standstill. This certainly got people worried about his safety, given how hard he crashed into the wall. “What a hit.. Damn.”

We have seen multiple race cars go airborne, doing 360 multiple times before landing on the four wheels. Ryan Preece’s Daytona 500 crash from last year was an example of how cars lifting off the track can lead to horrifying crashes. Luckily, Byron’s #24 remained in contact with the racing surface despite taking multiple hits. “I thought he was about to start flying.”

Having started the season on a high with multiple race wins, William Byron and his team have struggled to get consistent results further into the season. They will need to do some soul-searching and get back to a consistent top-placing finish.