It has been a while since William Byron has won a race but he is hoping to make home advantage count in Charlotte. The Hendrick Motorsports star is through to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs through points so he doesn’t have a lot to lose heading into the Roval race on Sunday. He did exceptionally well to avoid the massive 27-car wreck at Talladega and finish P3.
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The 26-year-old said that he feels like he missed out on a potential victory at the Coca-Cola 600 earlier this year. Poor weather played spoilsport that time and the race had to be called off before all the laps were completed. Byron has been successful at road courses before and last season, he finished P2 in the Roval race after a fantastic drive.
“I always enjoy racing at Charlotte. It’s nice being at home for the weekend but it’s also nice to have so many friends and family there to watch as well. I’ve been fighting hard to get a win at my home track. I thought we had a shot at the Coca-Cola 600 this year but weather shortened that. Hopefully, we can get it done this time instead,” he said in a recent media interaction.
The HMS driver started the season well with a memorable Daytona 500 win. He followed it up with wins at COTA and Martinsville. Since then, however, it has been a dry spell for the 26-year-old. A win on Sunday will be a massive boost going into the round of 8.
The stress of being the #24’s spotter at Talladega
Byron could have easily been one of the many drivers wiped out in the big one at Talladega. Being his spotter then must have been an extremely stressful job. Branden Lines recently revealed to Hendrick Motorsports what it was like whole chaos was unfolding everywhere around his driver. It could have easily been the worst ending to a good day at the track.
“I remember (crew chief) Rudy (Fugle) asking William if he thought we should get out and William was like, ‘We’re pretty committed here. I can’t get out. At one point I thought, ‘Man, this is not great.’ And then, I’m like, ‘Wait a second, there’s a lot of (playoff drivers) in here too. If a wreck happens, we’re all going to get wrecked together,” he explained.
Thankfully, the #24 driver was alright and has booked his spot in the next round. The focus will now be on doing as well as possible in the tricky Bank of America 400. It would be a special win for any HMS driver since Charlotte is where the team is based.
