NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 27, 2020
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the final race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, the pressure of racing on the Playoff bubble, and more. Transcript:
ARE YOU SLEEPING GOOD AT NIGHT? DO YOU DREAM ABOUT RACING AND POINTS? DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR TEAMMATE?
“Honestly, I’ve thought a lot about the race, but I think I’m the least stressed about it just because I feel like at Daytona, you always have an opportunity. You always have a chance to do well or even for things to go wrong. The track doesn’t really owe you anything. I’ve had some great results – I’ve won at Daytona in the Xfinity Series, I won the Duel this year to start the season. I’ve also had some unfortunate ones, like the Daytona 500 this year where we finished dead last. So, I think it’s honestly it’s just one of those places that never owes you anything and I don’t stress about it as much as maybe a place like Bristol or Dover, where you can run poorly just based on performance. I think it’s a great opportunity for us, that’s really how I look at it and I’m just excited to get down there. It’s going to be very difficult to points-race. Honestly, I’m going to try to approach it the same way that I did the Playoff race last year at Talladega when we were trying to make it into the Round of Eight, which was try to go out there, win stages and see where that puts us.”
WE KNOW YOU AND CHAD (KNAUS) ON THE RADIO – WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR CREW CHIEF DURING THE DAYTONA RACE? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HIM AND WHAT DO YOU NOT WANT?
“I think we do a pretty good job on the speedways of just communicating well. I don’t think there’s going to really be any stress in terms of where we’re running. I think we’ve got a good approach. Hopefully the strategy goes our way and we kind of get that track position to end the stages and be able to go race it out for points there. I think it’s honestly kind of out of his hands at a place like this – it’s really myself and Tab Boyd, my spotter, it’s just us communicating about the runs and the momentum. And he just kind of stays quite until it’s time to pit.”
WITH THE POINTS SITUATION YOU’RE IN, OBVIOUSLY THE CHEVY TEAMS WILL LIKELY RUN TOGETHER OR TRY TO BE GROUPED TOGETHER AS WE’VE SEEN IN THESE TYPES OF RACES BEFORE, HOW DO YOU RACE JIMMIE (JOHNSON)? I KNOW IT WAS DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES LAST YEAR, BUT OBVIOUSLY YOU TWO WERE VERY CLOSE TOGETHER THAT LED TO CONTRIBUTING TO HIS INCIDENT AT INDIANAPOLIS IN WHAT WAS THE REGULAR SEASON FINALE. HOW DO YOU RACE A TEAMMATE WITH THAT AS PART OF THE HISTORY AND KNOWING YOU’RE LIKELY GOING TO BE AROUND HIM, POTENTIALLY A GOOD PART OF THE DAY?
“I think we’re going to be around each other, there’s no question, at some point of the race. But there’s also so many cars that come into play at a place like Daytona. Dover, we were around each other at the finish. Things went well and we were able to race clean and all of that. I’ve never had issues with Jimmie (Johnson) – maybe my rookie year a couple of times, but that was just learning situations and understanding the Cup Series. I think we’ll be fine. Last year, we were locked in on points. I think were three-wide, Indy is a narrow track, so I don’t really think that applies at all this year. We’re going to race and try to push each other towards the front and try to get both of us into the Playoffs. I think we have a chance and an opportunity to get both Hendrick cars in and be able to bump the No. 21 out. So, that’s kind of our goal and hopefully it works out that way. Speedways are really unpredictable. It’s all situational, so hopefully we’re together at the end, we can push each other to the lead and hopefully finish 1-2.”
THERE COULD CERTAINLY BE A SITUATION WHERE SOMEBODY ELSE NEEDS TO MAKE A CHOICE OF WHETHER TO PUSH JIMMIE (JOHNSON) OR TO PUSH YOU. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO DURING THE RACE TO TRY TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO PUSH YOU?
“Just block really well (laughs). You just have to block like crazy at these places. The only way you’re going to make them push you is if you block well enough to where they can’t get around you. I intend on using the mirrors very heavily. My spotter does a good job of keeping me up-to-date on what runs are coming and just going to have to block extremely well so they push you.”
ARE YOU BRINGING CANDLES TO YOUR MOTORHOME FOR A PRE-RACE RELAXATION OR WHATEVER YOU’RE SHOWING US ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
“I’m a big candle guy lately. I was actually at Cracker Barrel at Daytona for the road course race and I was going to get some food. I had to wait a little bit, so I got some candles. I just like all various candles. I live in a pretty small apartment, so every time I walk in, I can smell whatever recent the candle was that I was burning. Maybe I’ll start hoarding a bunch of different candle brands.”
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GO FROM BEING THE KID THAT ONCE TRICK-OR-TREATED AT JIMMIE JOHNSON’S HOUSE TO NOW POTENTIALLY BEING THE GUY WHO KNOCKS HIM OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS IN HIS FINAL SEASON?
“I think it’s a great storyline. Jimmie is the guy that I looked up to as a kid. I was really a 48 fan through and through. I’ve got a lot of 48 stuff at my parent’s house and a lot of different diecast cars. But I really don’t look at it as me versus him. I know that’s what the bubble is right now, but it really is an opportunity for both of us to get in. Trying to look at it as that. That’s ultimately the goal – to get both of us in. Jimmie is an awesome competitor and somebody I really look up to.”
AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF YOU GET IN AND JIMMIE DOESN’T, MIXED FEELINGS THERE ON YOUR PART?
“Unfortunately, the way this sport is, your race team is the No. 24 team. So, the guys that I answer to are Chad (Knaus), my engineers, my Car Chief Tyler (Jones), my sponsors. Really trying to just do the best I can for them.”
HOW MUCH INFORMATION DO YOU WANT DURING THE RACE? AS FAR AS THE POINTS, YOU’RE REALLY JUST RACING TWO GUYS. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE OR IS THERE SO MUCH GOING ON THAT YOU JUST WANT TO PUT THAT OUT OF YOUR MIND UNTIL THE VERY END?
“I think you have to get the points in the bank during the stages. So, you’re going to kind of be aware of where those guys finish in the stages. And if not, I might get a reminder of just how many points each of us have racked up in the stages to just get an idea. Honestly, the way I approach it is I kind of have a temperature check in my mind. Like at Dover on Sunday, I knew we had gotten quite a few stage points – we finished third in the first stage and sixth in the second. So, I knew we were in pretty good shape. So if we just got a solid finish, which we did finishing in the top-five, we got a lot of points out of that day. So, you kind of honestly know at this point. We’re all smart enough race car drivers to understand how many points are awarded and you have that instinct in your head of what it looks like. And I know what the other race cars look like that I’m racing against – I know what the 21 looks like and obviously what Jimmie’s car looks like. So, I have an idea so I just do it that way. Typically, it works out – plus or minus a couple of points. Which might be the difference this week, so I might be needing to get a reminder. But when it comes down to the end of the race, you’re going to be running as hard as you can to try to get as many points as you can. It might be one of those situations where you cross the line and you’re in by a point or whatever. So, we’ll see what happens.”
WE ALL HOPE THAT YOU MAKE IT, BUT HAVING BEEN IN THE PLAYOFFS, HOW DISAPPOINTING WOULD IT BE IF ONE OF THESE SCENARIOS POP UP AND YOU MISS IT BY A POINT OR TWO?
“We have all year – we’ve had 25 races so far to get in. We’ve had some really unfortunate circumstances that have taken us out of some really good runs – I think of Indianapolis blowing a tire leading the race, I think of the first race back at Darlington having another tire issue there running second or third in the race. We’ve had some really unfortunate things happen for us, which really just falls on us. I think it will be unfortunate, but it’s not just about one race – it’s about 26. We’ll go hard into the next 10 and try to win races there.”
WITH THIS INTERESTING SITUATION WE HAVE GOING AT DAYTONA, MY QUESTION TO YOU IS WHAT HAS THE COMMUNICATION BEEN LIKE IN THE HENDRICK HEADQUARTERS THIS WEEK? IT’S AN INTERESTING SITUATION WHERE CHASE (ELLIOTT) AND ALEX (BOWMAN) COULD BE FIGHTING FOR PLAYOFF SEEDING IN TERMS OF ANOTHER WIN, AND YOU AND JIMMIE (JOHNSON) ARE FIGHTING FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT. WHAT HAS THE COMMUNICATION BEEN LIKE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS ERA OF SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE HENDRICK STALL?
“It’s been good. We have our normal Monday meetings that consist of going over the previous races. It’s been fine. I think we always work well together on the speedway races. Chase has a few wins on him and I’ve got either a few stage wins or the Duel win to look back on. Alex has done really well – I think he’s finished top-five in a lot of these races. So, I think honestly we just work together well. We have fast cars and hopefully they’re even faster this weekend. I don’t worry about it too much. I think we all have pretty good relationships.”
THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE FINAL RACE OF THE REGULAR SEASON AT DAYTONA, ANYONE IN THE FIELD OF 40 HAS A CHANCE OF WINNING THAT RACE. THERE ARE SOME DRIVERS THAT ARE BELOW 16TH IN THE STANDINGS THAT COULD BE IN THAT SCENARIO WHERE THEY COULD TRY TO PULL OFF THE MUST-WIN SITUATION AND IT COULD LEAD TO POSSIBLY YOU BEING THE FIRST DRIVER OUT BASED ON POINTS. DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THAT, WITH SOME UNDERDOGS TRYING TO PULL OFF THAT BUZZER-BEATER TYPE OF SCENARIO?
“It would be unfortunate for us. I think it would definitely be disappointing, but I don’t really know what you do at that point about it – it is what it is. Honestly, at that point, I would just accept it after a few hours and move on. Hopefully we can be that guy that wins and all these problems won’t be issues. That’s our goal.”
WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL THOUGHT OF NASCAR MOVING THE SECOND DAYTONA RACE TO THE FINAL RACE OF THE REGULAR SEASON? WITH ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS HAVE YOU’VE MENTIONED, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE KEY IS TO NAVIGATING A TRACK LIKE DAYTONA WITH ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE?
“I hoped that we would be in a little better position to not be on the bubble going into this final race, but unfortunately that’s what we’re in. So, I think we’ve accepted that. I’m excited about it – I think Daytona is an awesome, historic place. We had a chance to race there on the road course, which I thought was a great event and very challenging. I’m just excited for this weekend. It’s going to be great from a fan’s perspective. It’s going to be stressful in the car, but sometimes those are the most fun times and the most rewarding times in the race car – those times where you’re under pressure. It should be fun.”
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