Throughout the Martinsville race, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron was struggling in the middle of the field, unable to gain positions. But after struggling throughout, he managed to gain just enough places, finishing in 13th place to keep his points tally ahead of Denny Hamlin, making it into the championship four race scheduled for this weekend.
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Following the race, Byron congratulated Ryan Blaney, interestingly addressing him as his “brother-in-law”.
While speaking to NBC Sports on the pit road, Byron mentioned, “It’s our worst race to the year but it was… These guys deserve it so much and they worked so hard. Honestly, I just would probably 50 to go I felt really really bad and I just had to drive the hell out of it.”
The HMS driver then expressed gratitude toward his team for motivating him and keeping his mind focused throughout the race. He later added, “…Congrats to Ryan (Blaney) that was really happy for him, brother-in-law.”
“He was really fast. But man, we just had to hang on and I just had to dig a little bit deeper and I knew when I got in my car I was beat but the result just means more. than anything. These guys worked so hard and we’ve worked so hard all season and I’m just really proud of them.”
Why did Byron call Blaney his brother-in-law?
Well, the short answer is that Byron has been dating Blaney’s sister, Erin. The two have apparently been dating since late 2019 and did not initially tell Blaney about them being together.
The Team Penske driver got to know about it through a friend of his and was left surprised. He didn’t react much about it but just asked his sister about the news and once it was confirmed, Blaney did not seem to have any problems with it.
At this point, the trio has grown so close that the brother-in-law remark has become a running joke between them, indicating the healthy and growing relationship between the two drivers who will go head-to-head for the Cup title next week.
