NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 22, 2025
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Champion, met with the media onsite in advance of the series’ qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway. Byron is a three-time winner in NASCAR’s top division at the “World Center of Racing”, including back-to-back DAYTONA 500 titles.
Media Availability Quotes:
You spent some time today at the DAYTONA 500 Champions Walk of Fame. Can you tell us what went on there and what that meant to you?
“Yeah, it’s really cool. I think just seeing that Walk of Fame that they have was really special; get to do it last year and see your handprints and footprints, and then just kind of getting a chance to see your name with a lot of meaningful names that have won the DAYTONA 500. Just seeing both of them there was awesome and seeing the car for the first time. I love that paint scheme. I think that’s really our best paint scheme. It just looks really nice, and yeah, it was fun. Good to remember that weekend and everything.”
A couple drivers have come in today to talk about the desperation throughout the field for those guys that just have to win their way into the playoffs. As someone who has won your way in and you’re just worried about points, how aware are you of that desperation? Can you feel it from behind the wheel when you’re racing around some of those guys?
“Yeah. I think this race, you can feel it with about 20 to 30 laps to go. You can just feel the energy. I just don’t understand the mentality — like I understand the mentality, but I don’t see a lot of people making better decisions being desperate. you know what I mean? Like I think the best decisions come from, you know, having the right thought process to get yourself to the end of the race and see the checkered. I think a lot of times, you see desperate moves with 10-15 laps to go and it’s just like — man, just get to the end of the race first.
But I think there’s definitely a lot of that throughout the field. For us, we just can go out there and race freely and not really have to worry too much about the outcome. And I think in some ways, the guys that can do that are going to be able to have a freer mindset out there. But yeah, there’s definitely a lot of desperation throughout the field that I think causes probably some early wrecks that probably don’t need to happen.
I don’t know, maybe it’ll be different this year. Maybe guys kind of figured that cadence out a bit. I know when we won the race here in 2020, it was we were fighting with Jimmie and Matt DiBenedetto, and really what freed us up to go and get the win was just that we were in a good spot on point and then we just went out there and executed the final restart. But yeah, I think you’ll see a lot of different moves out there, for sure.”
The new schedule came out. When you see that schedule for next year, do you really look at it that far ahead, or is it more of you’re too busy concentrating on what you’ve got going on now that you’re not even worried about it and even look at it? And when you do look at it, is it from a strategic standpoint or is it just like, I can’t wait to go here or there or another track or whatever?
“To answer your question, I feel like it’s just more for the rhythm of the season is why I look at it. Like where am I going to be in that portion of the year? Is it going to be hot that time of year? Like do I need to prepare differently if we’re going to be racing? You know, I think North Wilkesboro is going to be really hot next year, if it’s a day race in July. I mean, I live in Charlotte.. it’s usually like 98 degrees. So I think that one would be tough on everybody, if that’s the case, so you’re going to have to prepare differently.
And I think I just look at the rhythm, like I said, just kind of like — where are we going to be in this part of the year? And then you look at where am I going to be at the end of the year, so how do I need to prepare for that? Unfortunately, like Homestead, our last true learning experience with Homestead has passed us. It’s going to be over a year and a half when we go back there for the championship, so you’re going to really have to learn a lot of stuff quickly there. Maybe we’ll have a test or something that everyone can kind of get some added experience. But yeah, I think you kind of look at stuff like that.”
Last week in Richmond, you said that as a team, you wanted to look at getting Alex Bowman into the playoffs, but you also are the first driver to have a chance to win both the DAYTONA 500 and this race in the same season since Jimmie Johnson did it like 10-12 years ago. Would it be equal for you to either help push him to the win, or you taking the checkered flag yourself? Does it matter?
“Yeah, obviously we want to win. I mean, that would help them, as well. So I think, we just have to try to go out there and win, but you have to be really mindful of helping a teammate. It’s a very double-edged sword… like I want to make sure I’m making moves to advance myself forward and not advance somebody else forward.
So yeah, I think it’s learning from previous races, right? Like learning from previous speedways. I mean, this package is — as easy as it is to say, hey, I don’t want to help somebody else. You’re kind of boxed in… like this is pretty much a two-by-two race. You’re pretty much pushing whoever’s in front of you, and that’s how you go forward. So how do you separate — okay, I want to go forward versus, you know, I want to help my teammates. So you got to kind of find that guy on the track. Hopefully we have a good pit cycle. It’s kind of a peloton race here. You know, you get the guys out front that want to burn a bunch of fuel, try to save fuel, and then you cycle forward. So how do we make that peloton work the best at the end? That’s going to be the key.”
Is there an art to saving fuel? I know that fuel has bit you a couple of times this year, but here at this track and especially when the races have a tendency to get going to overtime, do you have to be mindful of what you’re doing, and are there certain things that you can do to help yourself?
“Yeah, 100%. I think you’re feeling how much throttle you’re using. The SMT data is helping the engineers figure out how much miles per gallon you’re getting and stuff like that. It’s no secret… like everyone’s doing that now, so it’s not like I’m giving anything away with that. You’re out there trying to be the most efficient you can be. There’s really no point to trying to lead the whole race… like you’re just going to pit, and if you have to take more fuel, you’re going to cycle backwards. So for us, what’s worked is trying to just save fuel and be diligent with that. Tomorrow night’s a little different because you can go that first stage without having to pit, so you’re going to see a true race there. You know, I think everyone’s going to go relatively hard the whole first stage, and then you’re going to kind of save in the second stage, and you’re going to save in the third.
It’s an art, for sure. But the real racing, I think, is when you get the pit cycle; you get back and you can go hard from there to the end. You have to make really good decisions off pit road, so that’s the chaotic part. I’m surprised we don’t crash more in that sequence because guys are pulling big blocks and big closing rates. That’s what I would be watching. That’s what I’d be watching for is that blend and how everyone blends out.”
So points in that first stage are going to be what you’re looking at?
“Yeah, for sure. If we can win a stage, great. We don’t need second place points, so we’re probably going to be smart about that and how we position for that. But yeah, if we can go out and win a stage, that would be amazing.”
It seems simplistic that it would just be Hendrick has three cars locked in… you guys just line up behind the 48 and just help him. But it sounds like it’s a lot more circumstantial than that is what you’re saying… it’s not that easy at all.
“Yeah. It’s not that easy. And I don’t know if that’s the right tactic either. This thing is very complicated. You just try to be conscious of that. It’s no secret, right? Like everyone’s going to have some sort of playoff implication tomorrow night, so it’s going to be very strategic throughout the field I’m sure on who’s helping who.”
What are your thoughts on the first round of the playoffs going into next week? You’ve got Darlington, St. Louis and Bristol. Any of those three tracks stick out in particular to you in that first round?
“I mean, I think Gateway’s been tough for us sometimes, so I think just trying to get a handle on that. Kyle did a test there, so hopefully we’ll have some good information there. And then Bristol’s pretty status quo. I mean, nothing’s really changed there a lot. The tires been pretty similar the last few fall races, and Darlington is pretty similar. It looks like weather’s similar to what it was in the spring.”
For tomorrow night on the last lap, would you rather be leading or would you rather be the trailing car trying to make a pass for the win?
“It’s just situational. I think how many cars are left and what the energy’s like. I mean, I think you’re in a safer spot leading, honestly, because you control when the caution comes out. You’re in control of that, or you at least have the track position at that point.
I don’t know. I think that’s a little bit easier spot, but with these cars, there’s so much drag that it’s also really hard to defend.”
The 2026 Cup Series schedule has been released earlier this week. There are two off weekends. I just kind of want to hear your thoughts on that.
“I mean, it’s great. I feel like it kind of breaks things up a little bit. I don’t, I don’t remember exactly. I think there’s one in August or something. So yeah, I think that’s good for the guys. We’ve been rotating guys through the summer. A lot of our road crew has been different… pretty much every race we’ve had a sub in some way, so there’ll probably be a little less of that, I guess, with the off week. But yeah, that’s been the trickiest challenge of going from April to now is just trying to kind of keep everyone fresh.”
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