NASCAR CUP SERIES
2025 PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2025
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Media Availability Quotes:
In your position with the points that you have, how much do you feel a sense of really wanting to go out and get a win in the first two races?
Yeah, I think that’s a great point. I think in our position, we’ve had that conversation of just trying to stack some more points and stack some more race wins. I think we’ve been in this position before, and we feel like we kind of understand the cadence of the first round. It’d be really nice to go out there and win one of these just to take the pressure off and have some forward momentum, as well. They’re good tracks for us. I think Darlington’s the best in the first round for us. The other two can be hit or miss for us, but who knows? We could be really fast at those. So just, yeah, we’ll see.
Is it kind of a freeing feeling? Freeing feeling to know that you have options?
“I guess we do. I think it’s really plus-26 because the line is where it is. There’s a lot of good guys under the cutline that can win races. It’s not like a clear cut and dry, like, ‘Hey, let’s just go chase after a win.’ But I think if we’re just consistent and fast, I think we’ll have a chance to win and obviously advance on points.”
What do you see as your strength, your team’s strength going into the playoffs, and what do you see as the challenge?
“I think our strength is just that we’re fast at all the different tracks. I really don’t see a track that we’re at a big deficit. So I think at the same time, though, you never know what everyone else is going to bring and how fast they’re going to be. So we’ve just got to keep working. We can keep getting better, but that’s our strength.
“And then I guess the area we can improve is… I don’t know. There’s not a huge glaring area. We could always be faster on pit road. We could always be faster, have a better balanced car. But I think the underlying theme of the playoffs is just you’ve got to get to the Round of Eight, and then you’ve got to start peaking as that round goes. October is the most important time of the year.”
You said Saturday this year is going to be a battle. How does that mean, and why will that be a benefit?
“I think we’ve been through a lot of adversity this year. I feel like in the past we’ve had races that we weren’t in contention maybe, and we won. And then this year we’ve dominated some races and didn’t win those. That’s what I mean by battle-tested. We came back from those, and we carried that same speed, but we overcame. I think that’s what I mean. It’s just kind of a little bit more battle-tested. We’ve been through a lot of adversity in July. July was a really rough month result-wise. Then to come into August and have such a good month was really good to see.”
Being in contention the last two years, how has that changed, maybe just your outlook or how you feel about just trying to chase the championship?
“It further proves that nothing else matters besides winning the championship in this 10-race stretch. Winning races would be awesome throughout the rounds. But when you get to the final round, it’s all about winning that race. There’s not much consolation. Pointing your way through is great and gives you a chance to get to Phoenix. But it doesn’t really mean much.
Has that summer changed the mental approach to the next 10 weeks?
“Yeah, I don’t really know if we were slumping. I think that’s really overblown. We were the fastest car at Pocono before I crashed in qualifying and then had the fastest lap at Chicago in practice before I crashed. Then we showed up at Iowa and won a couple weeks later. So I don’t really feel like we were ever in a slump. I just think we didn’t have the results. If we were trying to get through the playoffs, maybe that would be different. But I feel really good about our team this year and feel like we’re in a good spot.”
There have been years where there’s like an odds-on favorite. Do you feel like there really is that this year?
“It’s really spread throughout the field. I mean, you just look at the playoff points spread more throughout the field this year than ever. There’s probably been moments where the 5 has been the best, there’ve been moments when the 24 has been the best, the 11, the 12, the 20… you got kind of five of us that are pretty spread with playoff points. Then you have this kind of road course season that it was in the summer where Shane (van Gisbergen) collected a bunch of wins and all of a sudden he’s up there.”
Would you do something different this time around? Every year that you’ve been in the playoffs. What’s the one thing that would be different?
“We’re always doing the best we can. We’re just trying to win more races in the playoffs because the wins mean more. This format is catered to that. We’ve been stressed out trying to point our way through. It’s a road we’ve been able to do, but it’s not the best way to do it.”
After the Iowa win, you said that the team’s calculations were tighter when it comes to fuel mileage. How important was that to shore up and be a challenge compared to this year?
“I would say we’ve made significant strides in strategy this year. I feel like our team is much more aggressive. I feel like that’s evident every week. If you look at the decisions we made at Richmond to pit when we did and you’re up against a little bit more of a window and a tighter box, I guess we’ve just made better decisions. I’m really proud of my team, I’m proud of my crew chief and my engineering team just to make those tighter decisions because I think that could be the difference at the end.
“Fuel mileage is always a thing. You go to a place with high tirewear where it’s not as big a thing but fuel mileage and track position is becoming more and more of a critical element.”
Do you feel like you’re the team driver that everyone’s trying to chase?
“I don’t know. I mean, we’re up there for sure. It’s really going to be kind of week-to-week. And it’s kind of cliche, but it just changes so much. And I think the time of year, you know, the races change as we go in the rounds.”
Looking ahead to this weekend, you guys have the best short-run speed at Darlington in April. How different is the setup compared to the spring to now with the extra 100 miles and the day-to-night aspect?
“You just have to prepare for longer runs. You might have to run 50 laps on Sunday night, and that’s a longer run on tires. So you’ve got to be prepared to know where your balance is migrating to and know how to manage that. Hopefully just do a good job managing that balance migration.”
For the final 10 weeks, especially as the rounds keep going, what mental fortitude does it take during the week, either during normal operations compared to week to week in the regular season?
“Yeah, I think in the playoffs you have more of a sort of direct outcome every week, so you kind of know where you stand every week, and that’s nice. You kind of know what you’ve got to do every single time you unload and where you’re at in the points. So it’s nice just to have that kind of clarity every week.”
Does this track ever owe you one with how you did at Darlington earlier this year? Does that stick with you?
“It did in the moment, for sure. For a couple weeks, it stung. But I think now it’s going back there with good vibes and a good opportunity to go back there and compete for a win.”
You had the regular season point lead for a long time this year. And then a few races ago, you guys lost it with that summer stretch. But then with a few races ago, you guys were able to put together two really good races, got it right back. Is that good confidence?
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve historically been a really good team at getting points. If you look at the last two years, I would say at the end of ’23 we became really good at kind of gathering points and then at the end of ’24 as well, and that’s carried over to all season this year. I don’t want to lose that at all, but you obviously want to be aggressive to go and try to get race wins as well.”
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