NASCAR CUP SERIES
PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
SEPTEMBER 4, 2024
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 4th in Playoff Standings
Victories: 3
Top-Fives: 8
Top-10s: 12
Laps Led: 259
Average Finish: 14.6
Stage Wins: 1
Of Note:
- The 2024 season marks Byron’s sixth consecutive appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
- Bryon’s career-best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs came last season during his first career appearance in the Championship 4 – finishing the season third in the final points standings.
- Byron has scored 11 of his 13 career NASCAR Cup Series victories during the Next Gen era.
- Byron has at least one victory at six of the 10 tracks on the playoff schedule: Atlanta Motor Speedway (two wins), Martinsville Speedway (two), Homestead-Miami Speedway (one), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (one), Phoenix Raceway (one), Watkins Glen (one).
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1 – 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day Quotes: You’re one of the guys the competitors are most concerned with this year. Are you optimistic?
“I just think we’ve been trying to… we’ve been waiting for this for a while. As you soon as you win early in the season, your goals shift to what can we do to get bonus points and what can we do to get ready for the fall. That’s really what has been it’s about. Now we get to put that to the test and take it one race at a time.”
How do you feel about the actual business of running for a championship? Do you feel you see it every year, the progress, and now you’re doing it?
“I love it. I think it puts value to what you do. It’s what you work for as a team. When you’re at Hendrick Motorsports, the goal setting out for the season is to try and win big races and try to win the championship. For us, this is the time of year to do that, so there’s more meaning to it. For driving like a team we are, that’s the goal.”
There are two parts to this, regular season and you’ve got that over with. Going into the Playoffs, do you have a chance to catch your breath a little bit and move into second gear and go to the Playoffs mentally?
“I feel like I’ve built a lot of stamina this year just in the different ways and trying to be ready for this time of year. So, yeah, I’m as ready to go as I’ve ever been. I don’t really need anything to motivate me for that. It’s just trying to put everything you can into the next 10 weeks because that’s what you work so hard for, especially in the off-season. You think about how you can get back to the championship race, and that starts in January and then you just work from there. For us, we had wins early in the season, we had to kind of take a breath, and now it’s how do we work to get to Phoenix.”
How do you make sure your team has stamina because the driver is pretty well taken care of, you have to have a lot of stamina. What about the team?
“I think they’re professionals. I think they’re some of the most talented people in the garage. My pit crew is amazing. My road crew does a great job building fast racecars, and my engineering team and Rudy are some of the most talented engineers in the garage. They don’t need any help getting motivated, I know that. It’s just making the right decisions and hopefully, I can help them with that, give them good feedback, and drive the car the hardest I can.”
But what about the stamina to make it to the end of the year? How do you help your team do that?
“Well, anytime you have two weeks off in the middle of August, that’s a great time to recoup and recover. We knew what the goal was, to try and be ready for this time of year. I feel like they spent those couple of weeks making sure they’re ready.”
A couple of drivers have given the sense that the first round of the Playoffs, it’s all about being conservative and not making mistakes until you ramp up and push hard in the Round of 8. Is that the same sense you get?
“Yeah. I think it’s easy to say conservative, but at a road course, you have to be fast. You can’t just show up and try to ride around there. I think it’s important to not make mistakes, but you have to make sure you’re gathering points. At Atlanta, there’s some things out of your control there, but the thing you can do to be in control is to have some speed and be up towards the front. It takes a lot of effort there to be good and once you get passed that, trying to think about Watkins Glen.”
Is there any sense in trying to get back to Phoenix and get redemption from last year with how good you guys were?
“Yeah, we just didn’t quite have enough last year. I think we’ve pretty much tailored our season around trying to get better in some of those areas. I feel like we’re capable. The summer was very inconsistent, but when we did have speed, we were right up front. I think we just have to get back to that and I know these 10 weeks will take a totally different mindset than in the summer anyways, so it’s not really worth comparing it.”
Is it different going now into another Playoff after you’ve been to Phoenix and felt being that close to competing for a championship?
“I don’t know yet. I think it will just because you have a different lens, different perspective. I’m not really thinking about Phoenix right now. I’m just thinking about how I can get through the Round of 16, how do I get through the Round of 12, and then the Round of 8 you have to be on your game. You have to try and win one of those races, so that’s what I’m thinking about. If I get to Phoenix, I’ll think about how I can execute that weekend better than I did last year.”
What’s the advantage to having everyone at Hendrick Motorsports in the Playoffs?
“It’s just good notes. Obviously, everyone is out for themselves. It’s how the format is and the way the racing is. But you have to share notes and learn from each other to have the best possible result for all of you. I feel like we do that really well. Nothing really changes in the Playoffs, but it’s nice to have everyone pulling the rope in the same direction.”
Is it extra pressure knowing that Mrs. (Hendrick) really, really wants all of you guys to be in the final round?
“I love it. I think we all want it really bad, so I don’t think there’s any needed added motivation, but I love how passionate Mrs. Hendrick is and Mr. H as well, and I’m excited for the Playoffs.”
Does it carry some more weight with (Mrs. H) than him in some regard?
“I love them. They’re great people and I want to make them proud.”
You talked about Watkins Glen and preparing for that race. With the unknowns of tire falloff, do you get the sense that will change the strategy as far as staying out for points or pitting early to flip the stages?
“I don’t know. That’s a great question I really have no idea. I think it depends on pace in practice, how much they fall off. We’re going to have 40 minutes instead of 20, so you’re going to have more time to figure out what that pace drop off is and I think you’ll make your adjustments from there. I’m confident in my group they will go through all those notes and look at the information and make good decisions. Typically at Watkins Glen, it’s a 40 point day max, you’re usually missing out on all of the stage points to win the race. That with stages, obviously. Last year we didn’t have stages. So it’s going to change for sure how that race plays out.”
In the first round, races are at such different tracks – short tracks, mile and a half, road course – do you think that’s really going to help separate the guys that are going to go and the guys who aren’t?
“It might. I don’t know. I think at Atlanta, you could see a new winner that’s outside the top 12 and low in the points. Don’t know what to expect there, but at Watkins Glen, I think you’re going to see legit guys up there running well. It’s going to take everything there. With Bristol, I think the tire, that could be a curveball. I don’t know. I think Bristol is going to be the biggest question mark for me, is to see how that race plays out.”
With you and Rudy, now that you’re in the Playoffs, have you sat down to regroup or rethink to move forward into the Playoffs?
“I mean, we talk every day. We talk about that stuff. I feel like once we got back from the off weeks, we really had a chance to recoup and get ourselves prepared and I feel we’ve done that.”
You’re here in the Playoffs, and you’re not a stranger here. How do you make it to Phoenix and what do you put your odds at to making that final round?
“I’m not an odds person, and I don’t really speculate. I think it’s going to change over the next three months, and you’re going to have guys you didn’t expect to get there, get there in Phoenix. I’ve seen this deal play out a number of times now and I’m not the kind of person to speculate. It seems like every year there is some sort of surprise in the Playoffs and that’s what makes it entertaining, and that’s why I focus on each race.”
Because of the layout with the rounds and different tracks, maybe Round 1 is the scary round compared to where it’s been in the past and Round 2. Do you think anything like that, or have you thought about what round is the toughest to get to?
“I think the Round of 16 is tough, the Round of 12 is tough. I think the Round of 8 is kind of more legitimate tracks but it’s going to take everything. You’re going to have to try and win one of those. I think it kind of depends, but I think depending upon what tracks you’re good at, I think the Round of 16 is probably the toughest.”
Do you have more pressure this year because with Hendrick Motorsports?
“I don’t think so. Not personally. For me, our motivation is internal. I feel like, no it doesn’t feel much different.”
Talking about tires, do you think you’ll see more of the softer tire for race season?
“Definitely not for the Playoffs, because for the Playoffs you should know the rules going in. I think for future years, I think it maybe should change a little bit, but I just want to know the rules and play by them.”
What’s something that Rudy has said over and over that you’ve heard that makes an impact or roll your eyes because you’ve heard it over and over?
“He likes to make it live, so anytime the car is good, he’s afraid it’s going to fall off. So, that’s his nature and I love it.”
But what does that mean?
“He just wants to make sure the car lasts the whole run, to make sure it doesn’t fall off.”
You’ve been in where these Playoffs you were a little lower in the standings, and maybe the underdog, and now more of the favorite. Is there any type of difference going into the Playoffs how you are entering?
“I think there’s a concrete difference with the bonus points. I think when you don’t have bonus points as much as you want to say it doesn’t matter, it does because each round resets. Anytime you have a bad day when you have points on your side, you have an advantage. There is a definite advantage to having bonus points. I don’t look at it as a favorite or not, I look at where I am on the bonus structure. Last year, we were tied for the first seed and this year we’re fourth. I think we’re still in a nice spot, but it would be nice to get a few more bonus points over the next three races.”
For an athlete, there’s a process you go through week after week. With the Playoffs, is there something you look to take from doing in your life or maybe something you’re doing in your life because of the pressure and the stress of what the next 10 weeks are like?
“I just try to stay as balanced as I can. I feel like I stay really in a routine, and I feel like routine is more important in the fall than it ever is. Just making sure I’m doing the things I’ve done all year but making sure I stay balanced and try to manage all that.”
What is the “pressure relief valve” at this point in the year? What do you do that has nothing to do with racing to try to get away?
“It varies, but I think spending time with friends and for me, there are different things. Playing video games, there are lots of little things. For me, just like I said, trying to stay in a rhythm and routine and not get stressed. If there’s lots of time on the road, trying to manage that.”
How do you feel going into these Playoffs?
“I feel good. I think we have prepared a lot for the Playoffs and I feel we’re in a decent spot. I feel good.”
What has made Hendrick Motorsports so dominant at Watkins Glen?
“I don’t know. It’s just a fast place so I feel like there’s a lot of horsepower and speed and downforce, grip, a lot of those things. We typically tend to do well when the challenge is there. I don’t know why we’ve been good there. It seems like they went through a lull there and for the last few, maybe a decade has been really good at Watkins Glen.”
Your teammates had a few victories and then you were able to come up with one. Were you able to learn from them, pick their brain, to make your game a little better at Watkins Glen?
“I don’t know. Chase (Elliott) won twice, and the Kyle’s (Larson) has one there once, and then he won again in 2022. I don’t know. I think it’s just a good notebook probably from those guys.”
There were 54 lead changes in the spring at Bristol. It was nuts. No one knew what to think of that tire. Have you and Rudy got a good handle if that happens again on how do you approach that race?
“I don’t know what to expect yet. I think we have some things to dissect and learn but haven’t really thought much about it. It really depends on how the resin interacts with the track and how the tires wear, or if they rubber in the track and it’s like how it’s been in the past. I’m not sure really. We’ll see.”
(Ryan) Blaney said it would be some generic resin, some kind of compound of resin none of us have ever seen…
“I’m pretty sure it’s the same stuff they sprayed in the spring from what I was told. I think the goal is for it to be similar to the spring. Now, I don’t know if the weather or things will make it different or not. That’s the intrigue that I have.”
For the first round, is there anything you haven’t said about Bristol or Watkins Glen that sticks out in your head?
“I think just try and get through Atlanta. I think once you get through Atlanta, you can kind of control your destiny from there. So, try to get through Atlanta, have a good race there and see what happens.”
You’ve said you’ve wanted to get back to the Championship 4. Did you and Rudy really dissect these next nine races to ensure that happens?
“I think we’re more week to week, but I feel like we’ve looked a little bit ahead and we know these tracks are good for us. We’ve had different conversations randomly throughout the year and try to take notes on those and go from there.”
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