William Byron is a man of the people before Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
LAS VEGAS — Coming into the Round of 8, William Byron and his No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet team were among the championship favorites.
After a respectable outing in last Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas, it appears such sentiments remain true with three races left in 2023. In the early going of the 267-lap race, the Charlotte, North Carolina native bided his time in an action packed Stage 1.
Starting from the third position, Byron slipped to 10th by the end of Stage 1 before moving up to sixth in Stage 2. Netting six stage points, the Hendrick Motorsports racer made the most of his afternoon despite lacking the speed of frontrunners like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.
Still, for a driver who has won six races this year, it was a good race at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Netting a respectable seventh place result, Byron finds himself ranked second, seven markers behind Larson, the new points leader.
Given Byron’s 41 Playoff points earned throughout the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, he does not need to be lightning spectacular. In fact, days like that in Las Vegas may be enough to be one of those vying for the title in the Championship 4 battle at Phoenix Raceway.
Nevertheless, Byron is not resting on his laurels, focused on staying ahead of the cutline and locking his guaranteed spot for the title fight.
Through it all, William Byron persevered with his No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Las Vegas. (Photo: Aaron Brink | The Podium Finish)
“We definitely need to just work on our build and how we build loose, but our No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet was solid,” Byron said. “The points are a lot tighter than we would want them to be, so we just have to have two good weeks, and hopefully go to Homestead and have a little bit better long run speed.”
Prior to the 33rd round of the Cup Series season, Byron appeared to have one of the two fastest cars at Las Vegas, Posting the fifth fastest lap in last Saturday’s practice round, he was the second fastest driver in a 10-lap consecutive run, trailing Larson.
Then again, pre-race conditions differed a bit to actual race day for the kickoff race of the Round of 8. No doubt, Byron wanted more given how competitive his No. 24 team has been all season long.
Sometimes, it is just about taking the best possible finish, learning from it and applying those concepts in the next race. For Byron, crew chief Rudy Fugle and their team, it will be about being on the attack this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“Overall, (I’m) happy with our execution,” he said. “We kind of made the most out of what we had. I think at the beginning of the race, we were hovering around sixth to eighth, and we were able to finish there. Wish we could have gotten a little more stage points, but we’ll take it.”
