NASCAR CUP SERIES
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 9, 2025
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Watkins Glen International.
Media Availability Quotes:
Is the dynamic of the summer race at Daytona any different than the Daytona 500, which you have won the last two?
“Yeah, it’s a lot different. I think the fall race is just very chaotic. I think the track is slick in some ways, but at nighttime, it gains some grip. I feel like the cars are edgier to drive in the fall race. Plus, in the Daytona 500, you have more time to dial in your setup and kind of dial in your handling for what you’re going to fight on Sunday. I think desperation is really high for a lot of people, so it just creates a lot of elements that create a lot of crashes. I also feel like the pushing gets more aggressive because of the desperation. The race feels really long, usually.
In the fall, it just seems like there’s a lot of cautions and you’re never fully in or out of it, really. Last year, we were running fourth and I thought, okay, I’m just going to push, I believe it was Josh Berry, to the win on the outside lane. I thought we were going to be able to connect pretty well off of two, and then the inside lane started to get squirrely. I think they were trying to go three wide or something and that’s when Josh flipped over. So yeah, it’s always something there.” .
Rudy said at the end of last week in the press conference that you’ve gotten better at rolling with the punches and what happens next. You opened up in the Netflix show this year about seeing a sports therapist. In what ways has that helped you kind of handle that adversity and overcome any kind of setbacks that you guys have had results-wise over the last month?
“I feel like I’m mentally probably better than I’ve ever been, and it’s really just perspective and balance in my life. I think some of it definitely has to do with working with Joanne. We’ve worked together for a couple years, so really nothing different there. But I feel like just having a really good balance in my life and really good perspective on what I’m doing, what actually matters and what is in my control, right? Like, what aspects of driving the car do I feel like are going to enable me to win the next race? And a lot of times, that’s what keeps me going through the bad results that are due to just circumstances or something out of your control.
Yeah, I feel like I’ve really tuned in and really started, as I’ve gotten older, to understand what is in my control and the things that are going to make me continue to be a consistent threat every week, and I just kind of hold on to those things no matter the result.”
I wanted to ask you about the regular season championship and how close that is. Is that something that you’ve been eyeing every week, or you’re just going out to win the races and that will take care of itself, as they say? And also, kind of the dynamic because it’s really, I would argue, the three of you and you’re all being teammates…
“Yeah, it’s on the front of our mind, for sure, during the week. I’m sure every driver’s guilty of looking at the points right after the race. So yeah, as soon as we get those after the event, you know, typically Bob (Pockrass), Jayski or whatever, we just look at them and be like — okay, here’s where we’re at and here’s how many points we got this weekend. It’s more before and after the weekend. I would say there’s very little decision-making during the race that changes because of the points. I think you just try to run the best race that you can, and typically that’s how you get the most points.
So yeah, last weekend, we were probably in a position where we could have done the conservative strategy for points, per se, and try to run 10th. We pitted, took tires and had a position — at the time, we weren’t thinking a win, but we were just thinking try to be on offense and put ourselves in a position to get a top-five or a win.
I think you just race the best you can. I think we have a really good point system, where if you run well, you’re rewarded for that, and if you don’t run well — like a couple years ago, I’ll never forget when we went to Martinsville, we had like a 23-point advantage over the cutline, and we didn’t run well at all. When we came out of there, I think we advanced by like three points. You just have to remember that stuff.”
(No mic.)
“Yeah, I mean Daytona is definitely – like you’re hopeful that you get to a point there where you kind of know where you stand before you get to Daytona because you can have a 40-point swing at Daytona alone. We saw that at Atlanta — we crashed out in the first stage and we had almost a 40 or 50-point swing to the guys we were around. So yeah, you just hope that by the time you get there, you can kind of have some more certainty.”
What are you expecting today practice-wise at Watkins Glen?
“We have a good benefit to watch SVG and Connor in the first group, so really excited to watch them and kind of see how they do; just kind of get a feel for the racetrack and study some of their stuff. I feel like I have a really good understanding of this place. You know, we weren’t good here last year, but we had a good run the year before when we won the race. Last year, I think we learned a ton. It was a new tire and it kind of threw us all for a loop. We’ve learned that tire since, and this should kind of be a culmination of all those efforts. I feel like we’ll know what the tire is like and just got to study that first group.
In regards to Richmond next weekend, when you look at the short tracks that you’ve run this year, in particular when it comes to what you did last week at Iowa, is there any comparison to the racing that you see at Iowa or how you feel that you perform? What you can attribute that or what you can expect as a result going to Richmond next week?
“Yeah, I mean you hope so, but they’re very different. Like Iowa, with the repave and just the conditions there versus Richmond being really slick old asphalt and slow mid-corner, it’s going to be a lot different at Richmond. So yeah, you hope some stuff translates, but Richmond’s kind of its own beast, really.”
With all the data that’s available for you guys to study of different drivers and to look at what SVG has done, how is it that he has been able to win the last three road course races for as talented as the field is?
“Yeah, what I see with him is he looks like us on ovals. You know, he’s just comfortable from lap one. He has a good understanding of what to achieve in his car. He’s smooth. He’s not sliding the tire to make speed, so he’s not out there out of control. When he makes a good lap time, it’s repeatable, and he learns from it. He makes it another good one.
So when I look at him, I just see a guy that just fully understands what we’re doing. What I’ve always been amazed with him is how quickly he adapted to the NASCAR stuff. I assume there’s nuances and differences to how we set the cars up than out in Australia in the Supercars. So, I mean, yeah, there’s a lot of similarities to that car… the low-profile tire, the sequential shifter. I’m impressed with how quickly he adapts to the car, but I think his technique and everything reminds me a lot of how a lot of us achieve stuff on ovals where we’re just comfortable from lap one. He can just find his limits. He’s very particular with the car, as well.”
You’ve won on road courses, so you are talented and can do a lot of the same things. So what’s keeping you from winning three-in-a-row?
“I think you humble yourself pretty quick. You go to the go-kart track up in Trackhouse Motorplex and you see kids that do it every day and they’re right up to speed faster than I am. Whereas I go there maybe once every couple weeks and I’m still quick, but I don’t do it every lap and I make more mistakes. I don’t maybe feel the car as well.
There’s a whole world of drivers that are doing impressive shit that we’re not really capable of, but they would also say the same about us. If they come and run Darlington, I’m sure they would, you know, be a couple laps down. So yeah, everyone grows up differently and we have thousands of laps on ovals.”
You mentioned the point swing at Atlanta last month. How big of a buffer do you feel like you would need going into Daytona to feel comfortable?
“I mean, I don’t know. I don’t want to put a number on it, but I would just like to see how these next couple weeks go. I look at it as this is kind of its own three-race round right here, so good preparation for us. As unpredictable as Watkins Glen, Richmond and Daytona can be, it’s honestly not much different than the Round of Eight. You’ve got Talladega in there this year, so it could be a lot like this stretch.”
What did you think of the new restart zone and how it kind of played itself out?
“Yeah, it looked fine. I think it’s a good improvement than how we were last year, just watching the race back and how many crashes there were up through the esses and into turn one. So I think it’s an improvement and it still puts on side-by-side racing for the lead.”
William, going back to the regular season championship fight, with it being three of the four Hendrick Motorsports cars, are there conversations that have to be had each week on expectations on how to race each other? How does that kind of play out in the shop each week?
“No, I mean, we’ve all raced for wins and raced against each other in the playoffs and championships, so it doesn’t change for the regular season. It’s the same. We all race each other well and, if anything, you just get a little bit more crafty.”
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