William Byron entered the season chasing a third Daytona 500 crown and thought the stars might line up. Instead, the race threw the kitchen sink at him. All the troubles he had dodged in the past two editions came calling all at once in his third attempt, with three wrecks turning his whole run into a survival drill.
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It began in the Duel on Thursday, where a crash sent him to a backup car and to the tail of the field on Sunday. And then, five laps into the main event, he was swept into a pileup sparked by B.J. McLeod losing the No. 78. The hit chewed up the right side and tweaked the right-front suspension, leaving the car fighting him for the rest of the day. Later, Stage 2 brought another “Big One,” collecting 20 cars and dragging Byron along for the ride. He also kissed the wall on Lap 57 without a caution, just to keep the chaos meter from dropping.
Then again, when the white flag flew, Byron found himself boxed in behind a crash involving leader Carson Hocevar. With nowhere to go, he dipped below the yellow line to dodge the mess, then merged back and limped home in 12th. Not the finish he wanted, but the season does not stop for sympathy. And his eyes now shift to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday.
Byron admitted that running two drafting races back to back brings a roll of the dice just for the element of the unknown, but said, “I do have confidence, though, in that we’ll show up with a good car and have a good shot again as long as we’re there in the end.”
“The difference between Atlanta and Daytona though is that handling plays a bigger factor this weekend than it did last. Qualifying is the only lap you get to try get a feel for what you have. We have a pretty good notebook for there, so hopefully we unload close and can fine tune for Sunday,” he continued.
Across 13 starts at Atlanta, Byron carries an average finish of 19.2. The stat sheet does not sparkle, but it does hide a pair of wins and four top-10 runs, proving that he has cashed in there before and knows how to find the groove.
Last year, Christopher Bell took the Atlanta trophy. This time, the chatter in the garage tilts toward Ryan Blaney as the name many are circling, with teammate Joey Logano close behind. Chase Elliott sits next in line, while Byron lands a step back as he will try to turn the page and get back in the hunt in NASCAR.
