William Byron hopes to parlay a ninth starting position with a Hollywood Casino 400 win at Kansas. (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – William Byron’s breakthrough season shows no signs of slowing down ahead of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
On the strength of five victories and 36 Playoff points, the 25-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native entered the postseason as the co-points leader with Martin Truex Jr. More importantly, he entered this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with two consecutive top 10 finishes.
Last Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, the Hendrick Motorsports racer rallied from a 23rd starting position to place fourth, tallying 39 points. As a result, he took sole possession of the points lead by a single marker over teammate Kyle Larson, the Cook Out Southern 500 winner.
It would seem that momentum is on Byron’s side at Kansas. by posting the second quickest time in Saturday’s practice session. He backed up his performance by qualifying ninth for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.
While Byron starts on the inside of Row 5, the outside line is likely where he will take his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Although this may seem daunting to the casual observer, the sixth year Cup racer finds it quite routine.
“We’re pretty used to it by now,” Byron said. “We’re pretty used to it. We all do it every time we come here. So it’s not very foreign to us.”
Likewise, it is not atypical for the North Carolinian to excel at Kansas Speedway. With seven top 10s in the past eight races, it is not a far out prediction to consider Byron as one of the prime contenders for Sunday’s 267-lap race.
“We had a solid race last weekend at Darlington and it was a good showing for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole,” he said in a team press release. “I think we have the potential to have another solid race this weekend. Kansas has always been a strong track for me and Rudy (Fugle, crew chief).
“I think our mile-and-a-half program has been really good this season. It’s been a while since we’ve raced on that style of track, though, so it’ll be interesting to see if any of the other teams have caught up with their setups. Hopefully, we can go in there have a solid Saturday and execute on Sunday.”
A versatile car that excels in traffic is just as crucial as being able to thrive in clean air. Kansas often puts drivers on the ragged control with a car on the loose side.
Of course, Byron hopes to lean on Fugle and his No. 24 team to keep him in contention with an adjustable Camaro. Initially, that might mean having a conservative approach from the onset of the race.
Points leader William Byron hopes to continue his hot streak at Kansas. (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
“The first stage, I think the goal would (be to) try to be 10th to 12th. I think (it) is realistic,” he said. “If we have a good car, I think we can do that.
“We had a great car today, so I don’t see any reason not to do that. But yeah, we just got to go to work and see where we start and hopefully we can make it up from there.”
Getting to the front means being able to be versatile and adapting to the changing track conditions. Similarly, this means finding every advantage once the competition disparities are razor thin inside the top 10.
“I think I know where to make passes and this place is really easy to to pass,” he said. “For the most part, when you get to the top 6 or 7, it becomes pretty top dominant. But other than that, you can pretty much work the bottom, work the middle and pass people. So I’m not too worried about it.”
Most of all, Sunday’s race may come down to a critical restarts from the front row. Byron recognizes how working with the right driver who provides that helpful, clean push can be the difference between winning or coming up short for a Kansas conquest.
“It depends on where you are,” Byron said. “There’s a lot that the guy behind you can can do, but it just depends. It kind of depends on on where you’re positioned. So what kind of momentum you have as well.”
Editor’s Notes
Brooklyn Jackson contributed to this article on-site from Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
