William Byron Hates Explaining Basic NASCAR Stuff to People, Does Not Like Interactions During Race Weekend

William Byron is keeping the wheels turning after a podium run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, stringing together three straight top-10 finishes in the Cup Series as the tour heads to Darlington Raceway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has been a fixture near the front in recent seasons, landing inside the top four in the standings over the past three years, and his run has not gone unnoticed; he has made quite a few fans of himself.

Still, fame comes with a catch, and Byron has drawn a line on how far small talk can go. During an appearance on Jeff Gluck’s 12 Questions segment, Byron opened up about the kind of chatter he would rather steer clear of, especially away from the track.

“The worst one is when you go golfing with people or go out with people, and they start asking all the ‘NASCAR 101’ questions. You know, ‘If you have to go to the restroom, how does that work in the race?’ ‘What’s it like to go fast? What does that feel like?’ They just start rattling them off.”

“If they start rattling off like five or six, I’m like, ‘Whoa, let’s just take a step back here.’ I just like to chill. I’m a pretty chill person, so I just like to have good conversation. But when you start getting quizzed, it gets a little much,” added.

This week’s 12 Questions interview is with @WilliamByron. PSA: If you see William on a Wednesday, don’t bring up what happened the previous weekend. (Free link) https://t.co/JvaUFapRXL

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 18, 2026

As much as the off-track questions test his patience, race weekends bring their own set of limits. Byron admitted that too much social time during a race weekend can throw him off his beat. While he keeps an open door through the week, once the engines fire up, he prefers to keep his head down and his focus locked in.

For the #24 HMS driver, the weekend runs on a tight leash. The flow of the race shapes everything, and he avoids setting plans in stone, letting track results dictate his pace. When the noise rises, he steps back and keeps to himself, treating the weekend like a job that leaves little room for distractions.

Five races into the season, Byron sits eighth in the standings with 157 points, trailing Tyler Reddick by 98. Currently, he has an average finish of 12.6 despite a DNF at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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