William Byron is quite a big fan of the NASCAR All-Star race. When speaking to the media last weekend in Darlington he stressed why the exhibition event is important for the sport. Continuing, he also opened up on the All-Star races that he enjoyed the most. His choices fell in a particular period, 2007-2010.
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The first pick Byron made was the 2007 running that saw stiff competition between the Busch brothers. Kyle and Kurt weren’t on the best of terms at the time and ended up crashing each other from leading positions. The cost of their rift was the prize of $1 million. The two ended up having a feud that lasted six months.
On the front of the field on that day in Charlotte, Kevin Harvick successfully defended his lead from Jimmie Johnson and took the winner’s trophy home. Byron’s second choice was the 2009 All-Star race in which Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and Busch combined to provide a proper thriller.
In the fourth and final 10-lap segment of the race, Gordon moved three wide on the bottom with Rowdy and Kenseth, unable to pass them. Racing towards the checkered flag, Busch tagged Kenseth and bounced back into Gordon’s ride causing it to spin. The 4X Champion’s contention ended there as Tony Stewart ended up winning the race storming ahead of the other two.
Why William Byron did not take a liking to All-Star races after 2010
Talking about his favorite period of All-Star racing, Byron said, “There were quite a few good years there, and then it kind of dulled out with the Gen-6; just had a rough patch there where they were trying a lot of stuff and it was really single-file at the end, and it was basically about who the good launch on the restart with 10-to-go.”
“But yeah, it kind of ebbs and flows when the All-Star Races have been good,” he continued. “I would say those kind of 2007 to 2010 were some really good races.” In 2008, Kasey Kahne won the All-Star race and in 2010, Kurt (Busch) did so. From Byron’s point-of-view the exhibition event is an important one because there’s a lot for drivers to learn from it.
He added, “I think that it is a sense of pride as a race team to be in the All-Star race. I think our All-Star race is more important than other sports. We actually put the same effort [as for the points-paying races], same everything into it.” The upcoming race will kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET on May 19, Sunday.
