The Darlington Raceway is considered to be NASCAR’s toughest track but William Byron has not had a bad run there in a while. The #24 driver won once and finished in the top 10 three more times in the last four races there. The reason for that was his familiarity with the track and the respect he has for it. It has been a while since he has won a race but his three wins early in the season have comfortably sealed a high playoff spot.
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“I felt like since I was a rookie there it was one of the tracks that clicked for me. I’m not really sure why other than just the difficulty of it, kind of respecting the place. I do feel I spent a lot of time as a kid watching races there. Kind of that visual memory of how to get around the place, knowing the cadence of it, has always paid off. I just really like the technical aspect of it,” he explained in a recent media interaction.
In the last Darlington race, Byron finished P6 which is a good result. However, the Hendrick Motorsports star believes that he had a car good enough to be in the top five. He’ll hope to do it this time around and perhaps even have a chance of winning a race. It would give him 20 playoff points which will be crucial if he wants to go all the way to the championship race in Phoenix. He did the same last season but was not able to win the title.
Ever since he joined Hendrick Motorsports as a full-time race car driver, the 26-year-old’s quality has shined through. He had his career’s most successful season in 2023 as he won an incredible seven races on his way to the championship race. He is a strong contender for the crown this year and will do whatever he can to get the job done.
Youngest HMS driver explains his shortcomings ahead of Darlington test
Byron and Darlington has not been a bad story of late but the HMS driver believes that he can still get a lot better. One of the aspects that could be cause for concern has been the short runs. The #24 has been masterful at sticking it out and gaining track position over several laps. However, short stints, especially after late cautions have not been a strength of his. That’s what cost him a top-five finish last time at the track.
“I felt in the spring, we were a top-five car, but not very good on the short runs. Gotta get better on the short runs. Gotta qualifying a little bit better to have a shot because we were really about a fourth or fifth place car and the race came down to a short run and we finished sixth,” he said.
It will be interesting to see if he has improved that aspect of his racecraft at Darlington. But it’s not going to be easy at one of the toughest and trickiest tracks of them all.
