Charlotte native spoke exclusively on WCNC+ about his remarkable season as he prepares for playoffs.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. β After a 12th place finish at Richmond Raceway, William Byron was all smiles having placed high enough to clinch the NASCAR regular season title.
“That was the best 12th place finish I’ve ever had,” Byron said after the race.
For the first time in his career, he leads the NASCAR field into the playoffs in terms of points.Β
“It was Β pretty good feeling when we were done on the cool down laugh and just hearing that, so that was cool,” said Byron. “I think I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought, you know, during the race. Obviously we try to get the most points we can and felt like the race had, you know, in some ways kind of gotten away from us in the 3rd stage, so I was just kind of bummed about that. But then quickly shifted towards the end goal. It was great to get that locked up.”
Byron started out the NASCAR season at the top, winning the Daytona 500 for the second straight year.Β
“I feel like it’s helped us kind of had momentum early in the season,” said Byron. “Last year we won it and, and it was a really good thing, but I feel like we still had our ups and downs this year. This year, I’ve felt like we’ve just steadily improved all season long. So it’s been a, been a really nice year so far and just gotta cap it off and keep going forward.”
“I think we just kind of buckled down in August here and we’ve had a few good results in a row and just have kind of kept that momentum going. So I feel like the season goes in waves for sure. You just got to kind of ride the, the momentum and try to get back at the right times and feel like our team is really strong right now.”
Byron now pushes for his third consecutive Championship 4 appearance and is doing it this year with a clearer focus, having spent time working with sports psychologists to help him better understand himself.
“I’m always trying to find ways to understand like the mental side and just understand myself and the thought process there,” said Byron. “I think I’m always looking to like take notes and improve, and that’s one way. I feel like I’ve learned how to sort of balance that expectation with myself and, and just really the process of things. I just really care deeply about just continuing to improve in the car and and learn new things and I think like having those new moments when you learn something you feel like you can apply it and be better it just that’s the stuff that I look forward to every week.”
Byron returns to Daytona this weekend for the final race before the playoffs at the Coke Zero 400, then brings a confidence into Darlington.Β
“Yeah, I feel confident. I think the tracks line up well for us in the first round. I feel like those are all tracks that we excel at. We just gotta go there and just approach it week by week. That’s always been our mentality,” said Byron. “We’ve had good playoff runs in the past and it’s really just week by week assessing where you are and what you need to do the next week.”