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William Byron bracing for Eldora dirt debut

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This week's NASCAR Camping World Truck series stop, the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway, will be the dirt debut for series points leader William Byron.


The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver is in his first full season in the series and recently spent some time getting accustomed to making the transition from asphalt to dirt, shaking down a Late Model entry with teammate Christopher Bell.


"That's really about it," Byron, 18, said of his dirt-track experience. "It went well; I liked it a lot.


"It was a lot different, a lot of the things were the opposite way of how we do them on asphalt. It was interesting."


Wednesday night's feature is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 150-lap race format will consist of three segments of 40, 50 and 60 laps.


In spite of his limited non-asphalt experience, Byron hasn't tempered his expectations for this week's race.


"I think it's going to be a lot of learning the first half of the race," he said. "The last half, if we can have the truck together and have good track position I think we can go for the win.


"I think it's all about just getting yourself in the right position for the last 60 laps and being able to figure out which line to take, figure out where the grip is on the race track as it changes with the dirt."


Winning appears to have come easily for Byron, who has scored victories this year at Kansas, Texas, Iowa and Kentucky. The Kansas win came in just his fifth start in the series.


That quick adaptation to tracks he'd rarely seen and the surprising success have been the result of "having the right tools and the right focus going to the race track," he said.


"I think our team is adapting well also. We've been able to bring something that's pretty close to the track. That we're able to fire off and get better in practice is the biggest key. I think we always end practice pretty happy this year, that's really the most important part. Just learning the track and getting up to speed as quickly as I can and then making adjustments to make sure we're ready to go come race time."


Byron leads two-time series champion Matt Crafton (ThorSport Racing) by 13 points. The two are the only drivers thus far to have clinched spots in this year's inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase.


The seven-race, championship-determining playoff will feature eight teams competing through three rounds. It will kick off later this season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.