Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron is already in the midst of what appears to be a breakout season, earning two wins in the opening 13 races and being within a lap and a half of a third at Darlington Raceway.
With his fleet of Next Gen No. 24 Chevrolets built up, he may get even better.
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Byron joined a NASCAR Twitter Spaces event with hosts Alex Weaver and Kim Coon on Wednesday, and he shared a recent perspective he holds with crew chief Rudy Fugle.
“I’m definitely not worried about the car,” Byron said when discussing Sunday’s All-Star Race and beyond. “My crew chief told me after Kansas after we qualified 13th, he’s like, ‘I’m done telling you to be conservative. Just go race. We’ve got enough cars now.'”
It’s the first year of the Next Gen car, and teams spent long hours over the offseason – while facing supply-chain delays – to build a new fleet of cars.
For Byron and likely others, the transitional period passing has brought a sense of relief.
“The narrative definitely has changed over the past three weeks, I’d say,” Byron said. “For now we kind of know what the car needs and we’re not so worried about crashing. I think you’re going to start to see guys get a lot more comfortable.”
Could be bad news for the rest of the field as Byron – who has led a season-high 569 laps – looks plenty comfortable so far.
Check out the entirety of Wednesday’s audio conversation with Byron, Team Penske driver Austin Cindric and Stacking Pennies co-host Ryan Flores, as the three get into the upcoming All-Star Race, rookie stripes, pit-crew competitions and more.