Why William Byron Is Not Losing Sleep Over NASCAR Regular Season Championship

Rahul Ahluwalia
|PublishedJun 16, 2024

Nov 3, 2023; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron during practice for the NASCAR Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Hendrick Motorsports star William Byron has been out of the NASCAR Cup Series limelight of late. Ever since the #24 Chevrolet driver’s victory at Martinsville in April, Byron has been unable to contend for the win despite finishing inside the top 5 and top 10 fairly consistently.

Sitting 66 points below the regular season championship leader and teammate Kyle Larson, the North Carolina native does not seem to be too worried about his prospects ahead of the final 10 races before the playoffs.

Byron recently elaborated on where the focus of his #24 crew at HMS lies and said, “I don’t think we’re really looking at that (regular season championship), we’re just looking at trying to run more consistently and better.”

Going out on track 🔜. pic.twitter.com/vkk5jYxth2

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) June 15, 2024

He further added how racing for victories and stage points could fare better for Byron as well as his team during the upcoming playoffs this season and compared it to how they performed last year.

“I just feel like trying to put together consistent runs and try to get ourselves in a position again to build points as we go because I feel like we’re maybe not scoring the stage points that we need to so that would be the emphasis.”

William Byron had six victories to his name last year. With 10 races to go this year, he has three to his name for now. It remains to be seen whether the #24 team’s focus can help them achieve a number closer to last year once again in 2024.

William Byron touches on Iowa Speedway’s repave ahead of NASCAR Cup Series debut at the track

Speaking on one of the most hotly contested topics of the weekend, the HMS driver also chimed in on the partial repave of Iowa Speedway and what that could mean for the NASCAR Cup race on Sunday.

He said, “It was really tough to widen the groove out there but yeah, I know I’m going to be in fourth gear. That’s about all I know. I just kind of have to see and adjust from there as is with any new racetrack.”

The inaugural Iowa Corn 350 goes live this Sunday at 7:00 pm ET with Byron’s teammate Kyle Larson leading the field away as the green flag drops.

About the author

Rahul Ahluwalia

Rahul Ahluwalia is a NASCAR Content Strategist and Journalist at The SportsRush. Hailing from a Journalism and Mass Communication background, Rahul's love for automobiles transformed into his passion for all things racing. With over 1200+ articles under his belt covering a mixture of NASCAR and F1, he has realized his calling in the world of motorsports with actual first hand experience behind the wheel to back it up. He has competed in several autocross events as well as rallycross-style competitions to hone his skills behind the wheel and better understand the mindset of a racecar driver, allowing him to further improve his writing as well. He also has an editorial background with respect to racing and has eye for stories which otherwise go unnoticed. Rahul is also an avid sim racer indulging in various disciplines such as rallying and oval racing during his free time. Having begun his motorsports journey at the start of 2020, he turned his passion into his work allowing him to delve deeper into the ever evolving and world of cars and motorsports. Apart from racing, Rahul also has sound technical knowledge of the automotive industry and automobiles in general. Having grown up playing video games such as Need for Speed, Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo, it is easy to see where the love for racing and machines inculcated in the first place.

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