William Byron looks to fight and claw his way to his first Talladega Cup victory. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
LINCOLN, Ala. – While this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races have been won by the Playoff Party Crashers’ Committee, William Byron has quietly kicked off the postseason in consistently strong fashion.
Consider his eighth at Darlington, sixth at Kansas and third at Bristol during the Round of 16. By all means, there is still something to be said about stringing stellar, consistent results in an era designed to reward victories.
Certainly, it was not a quiet start to the Round of 16 following last Sunday evening’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Although Byron netted a respectable seventh, his tangle with Denny Hamlin during a caution period drew the ire of NASCAR officials.
As a result, Byron, who would have been above the cutline heading into Talladega, finds himself in a bit of a deficit.
Following a 25 point penalty and $50,000 fine, Byron is ready to move on and claw his way to the front during Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
In this case, Byron hopes to find some friends to stay in the mix for the win at the 2.66-mile speed palace.
Byron may be hungry for a win like a raptor. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“Racing at Talladega is more about how well you can push someone and how well your car can receive a push,” Byron said in a team press release. “It’s a track where you really have to be able to work with other cars to not only get to the front but also stay up there.
“We were running up front in the spring race and lost our help in the end to stay up front, unfortunately. Once you get back in traffic, it’s a lot harder to make your way forward.”
Given Talladega’s initial propensity to be a white knuckle, pedal to the metal type track, it’s still a game of high speed chess for drivers like Byron. Moreover, unlike prior races at this venerable track, it shares a common element with Daytona International Speedway – handling.
“Talladega is a track where balance comes more into play than a place like Daytona,” Fugle said in a team press release. “It’s a fine line between finding speed for qualifying, but also having the handling of your car right to keep you up front during the race.
“We’ve only had qualifying for two superspeedway events this year. But we have a good notebook on what adjustments we made from Saturday to Sunday.”
It seems that Byron, Fugle and the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy Camaro brigade have a good grasp of Talladega. For starters, Byron nearly duplicated his qualifying effort from the spring race, qualifying ninth for Sunday’s race.
Unlike the GEICO 500 held on April 24, Fugle has valuable notes to review ahead of the YellaWood 500. Indeed, past data can be mean a lot especially in these competitive, unpredictable Playoff races.
Byron has proven himself as a superspeedway winner during his Xfinity title year of 2017. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“We ran really well in the spring race at Talladega earlier this year, and those notes are going to be a huge help even though the weather will be different this time around,” he added. “We’ll also run the same tire that we ran not only at Talladega this year, but also at Daytona as well.
“This is probably one of the tracks in the Playoffs that we have the most notes on and can prepare for.”
Naturally, as the case is every week, Byron will pursue the victory as the drive for five progresses.
Still, the risk versus reward dilemma is not lost upon Byron as he strives toward the best strategy to be in the fight for the finish at the beloved Alabama track.
“With how close the points are right now, I think stage points are going to be even more crucial Sunday than they normally are in this race,” Byron observed. “With everyone trying to get every point they can, you don’t want to put yourself at risk of not finishing the race either just trying to get a stage point. It’s a fine balance for sure.”