At the Championship race at Phoenix, William Byron was doing great in the initial part of the race, going on to claim the first stage win. However, things took a drastic turn for him somewhere through the middle of the race with his championship four rival Ryan Blaney battling him for the win, which the Team Penske driver eventually did.
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Despite a disappointing result for Byron, his crew chief, Rudy Fugle, thinks that the HMS driver’s season has been pretty good, looking at the bigger picture.
While speaking with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, Fugle mentioned, “It’s a tough end of the year just not having enough, but having a really good car and a pretty solid day and just not having enough to win. It hurts to not put a stamp with a ring or a big trophy at the end.”
Despite the setback, Fugle remained happy with the year they had in general. He then spoke about scoring six wins, leading 1000 laps, and getting four poles as well as 15 top fives through the season, elaborating how this was a good effort and a “strong season” considering the increased parity between drivers and teams since the introduction of the Next-Gen car.
“Our team keeps growing, you know, climbing up the hill and getting better every time so all those things make me proud and make me hungry to go again,” he concluded.
🗣️ “It hurts to not put a stamp with a ring or a big trophy at the end.”
Crew chief Rudy Fugle says while they’re disappointed in not winning the championship, he’s proud of what @WilliamByron and @Hendrick24Team accomplished in 2023 and they’re hungry for more. pic.twitter.com/5Ow4mwpwuw
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) November 9, 2023
William Byron believes there is only one thing to improve for next season
In an interview following the race, Byron expressed disappointment in losing out on the championship title. But looking back at all of the achievements he had he remained content. The HMS driver did note that there was one thing that the team would have to work toward heading into next season if they wished to continue this form.
He stated, “I feel like all that stuff can just go up a notch. Hopefully, we just have a bit more speed at certain tracks that we know are important.”
There were some eight tracks where Byron did not perform well and landed below the top 20s. Looking into the future Hendrick Motorsports would have to make sure they overcome the problems faced with those track packages and improve their overall race pace. If all goes well, fans might get to witness an even more dominant Byron next season.
