William Byron to 'keep fighting' following end of playoff run
William Byron’s NASCAR playoff run is over but there’s still time to build on his career-best season.









The 21-year-old Hendrick Motorsports drive in his sophomore season in the Cup Series ran up front in most of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway and finished a respectable fifth.
It was a solid performance but nothing short of a victory was likely going to advance Byron to the semifinal round of the playoffs.
“It’s just a bummer. But we had a great run and we can take pride in that, for sure. We had a great car, one of the best cars we’ve had on a 1.5-mile track,” Byron said. “It was fun, but we just needed to win and we couldn’t do that.
“But it is what it is. It was a great day for us overall, we’ll move onto the next couple of weeks and keep fighting. If we can go out and win, that’s all that really matters now.”
Read Also:
In his first season working with veteran crew chief Chad Knaus, Byron had said his No. 24 team had a goal to finish in the top-12 in points.
Following his finish in Sunday’s race, Byron is now 10th in the standings and can still finish higher with strong runs in the season’s final four races.
“I think we can still further our position in points, which is awesome. Really, for us to make that next step, we have to compete for wins,” he said. “We’re getting close, we’re running in the top-five and that’s great.
“We just have to make that next step and I think we’re really close.”
Although he hasn’t yet won a Cup race, Byron’s improvement this season, which included a playoff run, was remarkable.
So far, Byron has four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and has won five poles. In his rookie season in 2018, Byron had four top-10 finishes in 36 races.
“Last year was no fun and this year has come a long way for me and my team. It’s been a lot of fun,” Byron said. “Last year, I blew up here 60 laps in. This year, finishing fifth is great.
“We came close and I think we could have finished second or third. But overall it was a great day.”
Byron said it took some time for himself and Knaus to develop a good working relationship but it’s been worth the wait.
“He’s been great. I feel like we are finally starting to get that little extra bit that we need,” Byron said. “I wish it could have been a little sooner in the year, but I think we’re really making some good progress and that’s exciting.”

Harvick: "We still have to beat the Gibbs cars" for title shot
eNASCAR Heat Pro League title to be decided this week

Latest news
Reborn TGM Super Formula team announces two-car 2023 entry
The former Team Goh outfit has been relaunched as 'TGM Grand Prix' ahead of the 2023 Super Formula season.
Ellis to replace injured Auer for Bathurst 12 Hour
Philip Ellis will make his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this week as a stand-in for the injured Lucas Auer.
Despite heroic comeback, Corvette missing speed at Daytona
Corvette Racing came from two laps down to finish second in class at the Rolex 24 Hours but lost out in the final shootout to a quicker Mercedes.
Winning MSR Acura "super lucky" with Rolex 24 gearbox scare
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura team was "super lucky" that it was able to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona despite having a malfunctioning gearbox for most of the race, according to team founder and co-owner Michael Shank.
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his teammate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major engine overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars.
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, but his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines...
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.