Byron Prepared to Battle Teammates for Regular Season Championship

Jonathan McCoy | Racing America On SI

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season started off with a bang for William Byron, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The 27-year-old racer scored his second consecutive Daytona 500 win in the season-opening race due to chaos, which saw him climb from ninth on the final lap to score the win.

After Daytona, Byron would continue to compete at a very high level, but as he built a regular-season point lead on the back of runner-up finishes at Circuit of the Americas, Darlington Raceway, where he led 243 of the 297 laps, and in the Coca-Cola 600, where he also amassed 283 laps led in that 400-lap contest, victory continued to elude Byron, crew chief Rudy Fugle, and the No. 24 team.

As the weather began to heat up with the turn of Spring to Summer, Byron and the No. 24 team cooled off -- dramatically. Finishes of 28th at Michigan, 27th at Pocono, 37th at Atlanta, 40th at the Chicago Street Course, and 31st at Dover put him in a position he wasn't familiar with in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings -- second.

Then came the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway. Byron was among the best cars in the field throughout the race, but he had seen that story play out many times this season, only to find out the chapter ended with a disappointing finish.

Sunday at Iowa, though, it all worked out. As many in the field pitted, Byron remained on the race track late in the race, and when a rash of caution flags broke out in the final Stage of the event, it allowed Byron to stretch his fuel load well past the estimated fuel window.

On the final restart of the race, Byron was able to focus on building a lead on Chase Briscoe, the race's polesitter, and once he had accomplished that, he was able to save the last bit of fuel he needed to make it to the finish to score his 15th career victory.

"Oh, for sure. I feel like the race was really made for us with about 45 laps to go, when we were able to kind of find some pace and hold off Chase Briscoe," Byron said in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's On Track with Larry McReynolds and Doug Rice. "When we were able to get that gap and stretch it, then the last 20 laps were all about fuel savings, and it was honestly amazing how much time we could make, still saving fuel. It's pretty amazing to see it all play out."

The win finally stopped the bleeding for Byron in what had become a miserable Summer for the young racer.

"Yeah, definitely a relief. I hate to say relief always, because winning should be fun and everything, but yeah, relief because we've just been in these positions where I feel like we've done about everything right, and it just hasn't worked out," Byron explained. "After a while, you're like, 'Man, how much more do we have to do to win a race?' Because we're leading laps, we're running the best, I feel like one of the best in the series, in terms of average running position, and just general speed. So, when you have that much speed, and things don't work out, you start to get frustrated."

In an instant, frustration turned into hope for the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet.

"It was just awesome to see it all come together, and it kind of gives us a ton of confidence going forward that we can just do more of this," Byron stated. "Sunday was kind of a blueprint of what we're capable of."

Going forward, Byron has three races remaining in his fight for the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship, and the win at Iowa allowed him to propel past Chase Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the championship lead. With 15 Playoff Points on the line for the regular-season champion, Byron carries an 18-point advantage into the final push before the Playoffs.

Currently, Hendrick Motorsports occupies the top-three spots in the regular season standings as Kyle Larson sits third behind Byron and Elliott heading into this weekend's event, which is at a track -- Watkins Glen International -- that all three drivers have scored wins at in the past. Byron is excited to slug it out with his teammates for the regular season crown.

🏆 On the heels of his @iowaspeedway win, @WilliamByron is amped to race against his @TeamHendrick teammates for the Regular Season Title ⬇️

🗣️ "It's definitely gonna be a fun stretch."

More ➡️ https://t.co/WGRTG5gnEd pic.twitter.com/inIDom3cTg

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) August 7, 2025

"It's definitely going to be a fun stretch," Byron explained. "I feel like all three of us are working really hard, and all of our teams are fast and competitive. It's definitely going to take a lot these next few races, and it's good tracks for everybody, really. We just have to keep putting in the effort and the work, and showing up every week and just approaching it the same way. I'm looking forward to the challenge of it."

Byron understands the importance of the regular-season championship, as it comes with a bountiful harvest of Playoff Points, but the driver, who is looking to secure his third-consecutive Championship 4 appearance, knows a berth in the championship race at Phoenix Raceway is more than possible without claiming the regular-season championship.

"I think it's important. I don't think it's the end of the world if you don't. I feel like there's a lot of racing left," Byron said. "As we know in this sport, it's really all about what you do week-to-week. And you can lose or gain a ton of points in one week of the Playoffs. I don't think [the regular season championship] is the biggest deal, but it is a good pride thing, and it gives you maybe a little bit of easier sleep during the week when you look at the bonus points. We have an opportunity to get a lot of bonus points coming up, so we gotta try to capitalize on that."

Byron has a chance to bolster his chances at collecting the 15 Playoff Points for winning the regular-season championship this weekend in the Go Bowling at The Glen, which will take place at the 2.45-mile road course in New York. Byron feels this weekend's race is the one road course event that teams in the NASCAR Cup Series prepare for most throughout the season.

"It's fast. I think it feels kind of like a mile and a half. It's just a lot of momentum, heavy braking, but also just carrying a lot of speed. You have to have a lot of confidence in your car. You gotta be able to really be aggressive, and you have to put good corners together, and good straightaways. Yeah, it takes everything. I enjoy Watkins Glen. I feel like -- I would say it's kind of our crown jewel road course race," Byron said. "It's really the one that everyone wants to win. And you just kind of feel like everyone puts their best effort into that race. I'm looking forward to it."

In six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen International, Byron has collected three top-10 finishes, including a win in this event in 2023. While Byron has had some really high points in his career at the road course, he's also had some lowlights in the form of 21st, 22nd, and 34th-place finishes in 2019, 2022, and 2024.

Byron will look to continue the trend of snagging good results at Watkins Glen in odd-numbered years this weekend, and if he can avoid calamity, he'll likely find himself in a great position to lock up a regular-season championship in a couple of weeks at Daytona International Speedway, where he won to start the season off in February.