With William Byron racking up wins consistently, it appears that it will only be a matter of time before he is recognized as the strongest driver in Rick Hendrick’s stable. As things stand, Kyle Larson holds that honor, but which of these drivers’ numbers in the Next Gen car are better put side-by-side? 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick compared the stats of Byron and Larson in the Next Gen car to see who the better driver was on the “Harvick Happy Hour” podcast.
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He noted how they’ve raced 78 races together in the Next Gen and have an equal number of poles in those races. He continued, “William Byron has won 10 races, and Kyle Larson has won eight.”
“Seconds, they are close. Top fives, they are close. Top tens, they are close. DNFs – This is where the debate really started for me,” he said. “Kyle Larson has 16 DNFs and William Byron has 9. Lead lap finishes Byron has 63 and Larson has 56.”
Taking away from the numbers, Harvick said that the drivers were different from each other. He mentioned how Larson was naturally gifted whereas Byron had to work hard to get the numbers on board.
Kevin Harvick explains the crucial “piece of the puzzle” that shows who the better driver is
Continuing, Harvick spoke about how NASCAR races are hundreds of miles long and that endurance plays a really big role in them. He said that finishing these long races was still a weakness of Larson and he often crashes or spins himself out. Byron, on the other hand, is turning out to be an expert in handling these long-range races.
“I think William has been the opposite,” he said. “He has capitalized on some of those situations where a Kyle Larson incident comes in, or something happens and he’s a fifth-placed car. He has a good pitstop or puts himself in a position to win, by keeping himself in the mix. Running all those laps and not having as many DNFs. And so, in NASCAR racing it’s not all about being fast.”
Kyle Larson and William Byron are both having a great season so far. @KevinHarvick looks at some interesting numbers in the Next Gen car for the top two teams at HMS. @KaitlynVincie | @MambaSmith34 | #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/c5YpltRGxe
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) March 27, 2024
Harvick isn’t the only one to consider Byron to be on an upward trajectory toward being the top driver at Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Petty expressed strong belief to NASCAR earlier this week that Byron will soon be the head of the garage in his team and rake in championships like none of his teammates do.
