No stranger to Darlington drama, William Byron 'not losing sleep' over how races end
DARLINGTON, S.C. — William Byron has been the leader with two laps to go in each of the last two spring races at Darlington Raceway.
His finishes in those races — 13th and 1st.
The prior result occurred in the first Next Gen race around the 1.366-mile facility, as Byron was in command and bearing down on a 26-lap homestretch. As the laps ticked off, Joey Logano eventually caught the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and punted Byron into Turn 3 for the lead as the two were coming to take the white flag. Byron slammed the outside wall, and subsequent right-side damage forced Byron to limp his hampered hot rod around Darlington before taking the checkered flag.
A year later, Byron became the beneficiary of late-race fireworks as Martin Truex Jr., Logano, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain tangled in the closing stages.
Byron led just seven laps en route to his overtime triumph in the most recent spring race at Darlington.
But as the seven-year veteran aims to defend his Throwback Weekend trophy, he’s not one to toil over the idea of more late-race dramatics.
RELATED: Darlington schedule | Classic races at ‘The Lady in Black’
“I don‘t really think about it too much. I mean, I don‘t lose sleep over how the races end here,” Byron said during Saturday’s media availabilities at the track. “Really, if there‘s any race track you‘re not thinking about that, it‘s here. You‘re thinking about ‘how do I be good for 50 laps.’ That‘s just what it takes all day long to be fast here and then you might get that caution in the end and have to re-rack them and have a good restart.”
Indeed, Byron had an exceptional restart to snag the checkered flag in last year’s Goodyear 400. With a formidable challenger in Kevin Harvick on the inside of him, Byron stayed in the gas in Turns 1 and 2 to clear the now-retired driver. Regardless of what could ensue in the heat of the moment as drivers vie desperately for track position, Byron’s focus remains on the aspects only he can control.
“For sure, I pay attention to launches on restarts,” Byron added. “I pay attention to lane selection, but I‘m not losing sleep on what‘s going to happen on a green-white-checkered here or late in the race. It‘s just how I manage my tires and my equipment to make the best 40-lap, 50-lap run I can do.”
Already a three-time winner in the 2024 season, Byron has his ticket punched to the 16-driver postseason that kicks off in September.
Yet, Byron is far down the Cup standings compared to his Hendrick teammate and current points leader Larson. The two are separated by a 105-point chasm, as Byron ranks seventh in points.
MORE: Cup standings
The highs have been very high for the No. 24 team this season, but there have been low moments as it enters Sunday’s race (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with 33rd and 23rd-place results the last two weekends.
“Jeff Andrews [President, General Manager at Hendrick] and I were on the way up here and he was talking about the first 12, middle 12 and last 12,” Byron said. “I‘m always kind of looking for new ways to think of it, and I think that‘s a great way to view it. I feel like our first 12 [races] have been up and down, right? But our ups are very up, and we‘ve had a lot of pace each weekend. Last weekend, we were fastest in practice, good averages and then the issue in qualifying. We just kind of missed the balance going into a night race that we didn‘t expect to happen, and we couldn‘t adjust enough.”
As the middle portion of the season gets into full swing, Byron is more focused on getting the No. 24 team back into executing in-race than the overall speed of the car.
“We just have to be a little more consistent, but we have the pace,” Byron said. “I feel like that‘s what you‘re really striving for — to have pace to win races. We have that, it‘s just that we‘re not consistently putting the weekends together, in terms of balance and execution.
“Our execution also; whether that‘s me hitting the wall in qualifying and putting us in a bad pit stall, we get boxed in a few times and we‘ll lose multiple stops. Or the week before, we had some issues on pit road, had a jack issue and lost several stops. So, it‘s just kind of all-around execution, but luckily it‘s early in the season. I feel like I‘m fresh. I feel super fresh this year and ready to attack the summer stretch and just start putting some of that consistency together.”
