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LAS VEGAS – Respect is earned, not given.
That’s the perspective William Byron has adopted as he tackles his rookie season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
The 20-year-old doesn’t believe that just because he is piloting the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports he automatically has credibility. He wants to earn admiration from fans and his fellow drivers when he finds his way to Victory Lane – and he knows it won’t be an easy road either.
“It’s hard to mentally prepare to know that it’s going to be difficult,” Byron said at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first stop on the three-race NASCAR Goes West swing. “Once it clicks, it’s going to be the same as any other series. Once it clicks, and you know what you need in the car and you know how to produce results it doesn’t matter whether there (are) 30 good cars or 20 good cars.
“I think that once it does click for us and we show up each week — and we are very close — we are going to rack up those successful finishes.”
Byron also acknowledged that he had no choice but to grow up quickly when he accepted the offer from Rick Hendrick to jump into the car that former driver Jeff Gordon made a household name. He quickly understood the responsibility that comes with driving the No. 24 Chevrolet – and from being a part of the youth movement that is taking the sport by storm.
“You just try to interact with them (fans),” he said. “You try to still get where you’re going if you have to be at practice; you can’t just stop for each person. But you’ve got to walk with them and try to understand how to manage that.
“You want to make sure they get the right impression from the weekend because I know from me going to races that one impression I would get from a driver … that interaction is crucial. You want to make sure they have a good time.”
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Sunday marks the third race of the 2018 season, and the 2017 Xfinity champion and his team have felt the growing pains early. A 23rd-place finish at Daytona was followed with what he described as the “hardest” 18th-place finish of his career at Atlanta. He’ll start 17th at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where his team is still working on pit-stop strategies and adjusting to the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Byron tries not to let a tough practice or qualifying keep him from looking forward.
“The biggest pressure you can put on yourself is seeing what other people say and seeing what other people think about what’s going on,” he said. “Sometimes they actually know exactly what’s going on which is funny to read some comments and I’m like, ‘Yeah that’s pretty much what’s happening.’ … You have to be honest with yourself and just know what you have to work on.”
Byron’s rise through the ranks has put the spotlight as bright as it comes – and along with the notoriety comes the nicknames. “Willy B.” has become the trademark for fans and broadcasters, but he hopes that it doesn’t become the norm.
“It’s better than Billy,” he said. “If I start winning hopefully it’ll be William. I gotta win first though.”