I hope he does well this year. From his year at KBM, he’s shown that he can dominate and with Elliott down and out, the #24 team might get the resources needed to contend.
Byron is the driver I follow the closest in Cup. There were so many races last year where he had bad luck, and was not good enough to dig out of the hole. That's probably his biggest weakness, but also one that can be learned away. The peak for a cup series driver tends to be in their mid thirties, and I think Byron will be a champion before he's done, but he's still got some maturing to do. He's one of the most purely talented drivers in the garage, though.
I think this is going to be Byron's year. I think he's going to win 5 or 6 races this year. That being said, I think there are a lot of drivers that made a very good career of running inconsistent and winning a handful of races every year.
i'm big on the byron bandwagon. he can easily replicate that 2021 form and become one of the threats to win every weeknd(remember, he's only 25). he's one of my picks for the championship 4, i know he'll come good on it.
It seems like a lot of people forget just how young William is. He’s younger than Bell, Reddick, Briscoe, Blaney. He’s pretty much the youngest of the drivers who actually have a shot to win every week.
Avg. finish and top-10's are such an archaic stats in the stage racing era. He scored so many stage points last year and that was a big reason for his career high championship finish. If you want a true representation of how fast a driver actually is during the entire race you need to start looking at avg. running position, laps led, fastest laps, and driver rating.
They should definitely be a contender. All 4 Hendrick cars (assuming they all win and there's no injury in the playoffs) should make the Round of 8. Byron and Bowman will both have great years in 2023.
William Byron nascar career since 2015 has been very interesting 2015 won the k@n east title and made his trucks debut 2016 won 7 trucks races won the owners championship for kbm and won rookie of the year 2017 in xfinity won the championship won 4 races and won rookie of the year 2018 in cup won rookie of the year 2019 won the daytona 500 pole and made the playoffs 2020 won his 1st career race 2021 got his 1st top 10 points finish 2022 won multiple races for the first time made the round of 8 and finished 6th in points 2023 swept all 3 stages in a race for the first time in his career so yeah its been a rather interesting career for him i could also add last year he got Spire Motorsports their 1st trucks win to
1:45 this was the first race i attended after becoming a new nascar fan and ever since i've been a fan of william byron, glad to see he's shaping up to do great things this season cause i know he can
Byrons car at the end of last year were horrible, I think they were testing packages for this year at different tracks. Right when playoff started again the cars he was given we’re actually good again and he started competing. He also did get a bit unlucky with some races where he did have a good car at, such as Darlington where Joey put him in the wall and instead of finishing 2nd he finished 15th
He can be this or that each season. 2021, 1 win and he had a streak of 10 top 10's in a row 2022, 2 wins and was a threat for the championship, 2023, a win. What can he do this year?? Only time will tell
There's nothing confusing about it, and nothing "inconsistent" about the 24 team/Byron himself. The pit crew is just ungodly awful. In probably 10-14 of the races in that 18 race stretch before the playoffs last year, he had solid top 5/10 speed and should have won at least one race (Darlington for one...), but seemingly every race his pit crew would lose 10-15 total spots on pit road forcing him to constantly get knocked around and fight through the mid field. And if his pit crew wasn't losing him spots, he was just getting wrecked when running well. Wrecked in one of the many big ones at the 600 after running top 10, had one of the best cars at Atlanta 2 when he got caught up in a large crash after I believe leading the most laps up to that point, and at the Indy GP he was running 4th with one of the faster cars but got nailed in the left rear by Elliott after he spun and broke the toe link.
You forgot to mention how last year, the good chunk, if not majority, of his pit stops, his pit crew lost him positions rather than gain, or keep his position
It’s not just his fault all the time. He gets caught up in other peoples crap more times then NASCAR TH-camrs care to admit. For most of last year his pit crew was one of the worst when it came to clutch stops. And let us not forget he was a Joey Logano snow plowing away from winning at Darlington last year for win 3. Bad luck follows him and I’m getting tired of people thinking it’s just on him.
As a Byron fan who listens in on the radio just about every week, a large majority of the time when he doesn’t run well it’s either just flat out Bad luck (somebody wrecks him, flat tire) or a lot of times Rudy tries to do a strategy or make an adjustment to the car and it just doesn’t work out and results in him getting stuck mid pack. It happened a lot during last summer between bad luck and just bad pit strategies or adjustments. Pit crew wasn’t the greatest last year and made a lot of mistakes also. I think they can be a contender if they can just stay consistent.
2021 he was consistent and didn’t lead or win much, 2022 he won multiple times and led as much as anyone in the series but wasn’t consistent, 2023 if he combines those together that’s a title contender
William is definitely a guy I love rooting for in the current Cup Series. I do honestly think he's got something, Hendrick probably wouldn't have picked him if they didn't see something in him. Though time will ultimately tell how this season goes, I feel it's worth looking at his future with optimism. Also, BYRON SWEEP, BABY! WOOOO!
I think to really understand the slump last year you need to look at Logano wrecking him to steal 1st at Darlington. That feud got in his head and affected his performance.
The results haven’t shown it but he was at the front of the pack at Daytona until the end and got involved in a crash. And he was battling for a win at Fontana while pit road mistakes completely costed him. He very well could have started this year with a win and 2 top 5’s/10’s
As a diehard Byron fan (since 2015), the one thing he and his team need to figure out is how to finish. I was keeping tabs last year on every race he had top-10 speed; when the regular season ended, he was fast enough in 22 of 26 races to get top-tens (even had winning speed). However, he only managed 5 top-tens in that span. Why? Poor strategy, car/parts failures, driver error, wrecks/bad luck, pit mistakes, you name it! Fontana last week was a great example; fast car on short runs and early in the race, but poor adjustments, a smack on the wall, and a penalty ruined it. In conclusion, he has the speed to be a contender, but he and his team need to learn to keep it all race long, and all season long. If he can, he could be the best HMS driver out there...
Byron is probably the most fascinating driver to speculate on in the entire cup series garage. Even for how weird, inconsistent, but yet strong, dominating some of his performances has been he can range from mid-pack to a championship contender. I do believe some of this is related to being apart of the team of 2 young superstar drivers for teammates, so the pressure will be on. I do believe there is another question to be asked. Will we see Byron step up with Elliott's injury? Not even a full week in he certainly has but will he cement himself as a star of the sport with the weeks and months to come?
He’s a contender. The days of rookies coming in and dominating are gone. Takes a long time now to be find a groove these days. Chastain is the closest we’ve gone in a long time to Gordon.
With Byron being so young, I see his career floor being Casey Khane-ish, with his Ceiling being TBD. He's 25 and still has 15 years of racing cup left if he stays at this level or gets better. I think he's here to say and going to be a solid driver for a long time. Like others have said, hes definitely Blaney tier right now (on the cusp of being a superstar but not quite yet, maybe not ever) but in a different way. Blaney is consistent but doesn't won a ton vs byron is streaky - he's either really hot or really not for extended races in a row.
William reminds me of a young Jeff Gordon before he found his footing where is feast or phantom he's going to be very good just thinking he gets this year and next year where he's had so many different crew chiefs to be a young cup driver it has hurt his growth some but he will be a super star in the next few years I'm not saying he will be as good as chase or Larson but won't be far from them
If he can finish out races he’s the best hendrick driver I think the new car kinda hurt him he needed more time to learn it than other but I think he’s got it down now
With this playoff format anything is possible. He had a terrible second half of the regular season and still ended up 6th in the final standings. I really believe that if he wins just one race in the playoffs this year he will make the final 4
Last summer 24 fans would cringe during cautions because there were far too many mishaps on pit road. Sure, he's still learning, but going into the playoffs last season the pit crew had cleaned things up (and it looks like that trend has continued). The entire team is only going to get better.
It’s true. When each Hendrick car locks in they assign 1 or 2 of their drivers to testing, Byron and Bowman (Larson wasn’t picked but did mainly test at playoff tracks)
As a Byron fan He’s like a Greg Biffle Not as good as his Roush teammates But can be consistent and have as much pace as his teammates Still only 25 too which is kind of insane
Hendrick needs to divest in all 4 of its drivers, not just allocate 90% of the budget to Elliott. Byron has potential, especially after running down Larson before the caution came out, he just needs good equipment up to par with Elliott's, and a bit more training on some tracks to keep this momentum going. As history shows, he can dominate on one track, yet struggle the week after. They need to tweak some bits to ensure a good balance for him
Kyle Petty made the comparison of Ryan Blaney being like Kasey Kahne, which made no sense because they're almost nothing alike. I see that more with Byron being like him with how streaky Kahne was early in his career
@@JJA1987 Bowman is my driver and i truly wish him well but there are so many really good drivers this year. With the smaller spoiler package if those two can master it then fine.
I'm one of Byron's biggest fans out there and I believe he has the potential to win it all this year or in the next few years. What a lot of people fail to bring up or notice if you've watched him closely especially last year, 90 to 80% of the time when he was running well especially middle of the season, he always had something go wrong. Either got wrecked, had a problem, a slow stop or penalty, or an untimely caution came out late when he would've had a top 10 or 5 finish in said race. With that being said however, yes this win was a statement that he is a very solid driver and can win races and dominate plus be there when it matters. This year Is a year to do it and I hope we can see him hoist the cup at sessons end 🔥🙏🙏🙏
Personally i feel like all of the Hendrick drivers can be streaky at times. even Larson. Byron also isn't usually a driver that causes too many wrecks. He gets caught up in them, but most of the time he didn't start it.
Byron definitely has potential, he just needs to step up in the clutch, when it really comes down to it.... I would say, given the fact that Chase is, very unfortunately going to be out for a little while, and if he really wants to show what he's made of, NOW, is the time to step up and perform
I am a Byron fan and remember saying last year that he'd be hard to handle if they could put a whole race together. Sunday proved he had a bad fast car, good strategy, and was able to make those calls to adjustments to help fix the car. I really hope that isn't just a flash in the pan performance because I think he really can be a contender.
If Byron can put together the consistency of 2021 and the dominance (at times) of 2022, then he will definitely be a title contender. Either way, he’s settling in. 5 wins and at least 1 win in 4 straight seasons shows he’s talented. A complete season with the highlights of dominance is the next step
I hate to cop out on your question but I think this will have to be answered after a few more races. We thought he was coming into his own when he went out and won Homestead in '21, and now here we are 2 years later still asking if he's about to step into the role we thought he would as a championship level driver.
Byron is a strange driver. One day he’ll be up front leading laps like he was yesterday or be a mid pack driver finishing their at races end. He hasn’t strung together the consistent finishes that we know he can. If he can string together consistent finishes week in and week out he’ll be a contender.
He's a contender, he's been getting more and more better since his first 3 years in cup, and there was times where he looked real good in the track, he gets into trouble of no fault of his own, like with Darlington for example, but he's getting better, Vegas showed that he is a contender, like I saw a bit of Jeff Gordon in him
I honestly think he’ll finish his career with around 15-20 wins if he stays in good equipment for his career. But I don’t think we’ll ever view him as a could’ve been champion that didn’t enough breaks the same way we think of Kasey Kanye, Tim Richmond Greg Biffle, or a Davey Allison.
He probably thinks bubba is a championship contender which he might be Suarez is improving but he’s probably not gonna be a champion Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 but that’s about it and almarola just wants to retire
you just make him sound like a Mickey driver when he has demonstrated consistent speed. Byron is like Bell in many aspects but I look at qualifying, Byron can put a car up there which I think is crucial. He can really do great things when he's set
He’s as good as bell and a few years younger I think being younger will help him out in the long run because he has had more time to learn than others because hendrick didn’t have intentions of kicking out of the team he knew he would take time and learn and now I think it’s starting to really pay off
I bet Byron’s season will be very similar to last year. Win a 2 or 3 races and then completely disappear for contention until the playoffs and make it to the round of 8 maybe
I just find it hard to believe that at this point in his career the inconsistency has most to do with the driver. That’s what doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s clear that he’s improved every season and that he’s earned the respect of the drivers and proven that he can win at the highest level in this sport. I’m going to chalk up his weird 2022 slump to his team testing different setups, though I’m not sure that’s been proven, but we saw how fast he was as soon as the playoffs started. That’s why i don’t think the inconsistency is on the driver there. It doesn’t add up to me. You don’t get 2 wins early in the season and then just start to suck because of driver error, and then look like the guy to beat again in the playoffs. I don’t buy it. Byron is for real, and I dare say this is the season the inconsistency stops, and he legitimizes himself as a threat to win each week
Same they were building a new notebook with the new car and how it drives on each track with different setups and this year I think it’s gonna pay off in a big way
He's definitely a contender he reminds me of a young Jeff Gordon before he won his first championship where he could win but wasn't consisted but looks like he has the being consistent and goes back to back
I wonder how your tune changes it he hade made the final 4 in 2021. He was leading at the Roval late, and if NASCAR black flags the #9 car for the loose bumper, Byron wins and makes the round of 8. He scored the most points out of anyone in that round, easily makes the final 4.
When you think back at 2021 he should have won the Roval,Michigan,Pocono, and Kansas and every time is was stuff out of his control that would take him out
@@prestonfreels1665 Facts. He was leading by five seconds at Michigan with like 20 to go when it started DRIZZLING which brought the caution out. Definition of bad luck.
From what I’ve seen watching as a casual(+) fan is he’s very much a crew chief driver. If the car is close he can capitalize on it and win but if the car is lacking he lacks the ability to convey to his crew chief how to improve it. Just my opinion.
I think drivers mostly want to be good when they want to be. Byron is easy to collect for his diecast, it’s more exciting when they don’t win as much! Specially for their fans.
I feel like everybody is completely overlooking the concept that he's already locked into the playoffs. Perhaps they're just not giving him the same equipment after he's won his way in, cost cutting to help run a 4-car operation in a league that keeps them running at a negative every year. He doesn't need to run consistent the whole year, running the risk of wrecking good equipment. If you ask me for my theory on things, him and Hendrick Motorsports are just exposing the system.
I believe the Darlington incident with Logano really changed Byron for the worst. Going from a what looked like a dominant future to absolutely nothing after Darlington.
Byron was rock solid on Sunday. Was dominant all day. But Larson would have won were it not for the Almirola spin. Still, he restarted on old tires and still held off the field. He deserves it.
If you watch back the Fox broadcast, I’m not so sure about Larson winning, those intervals had dropped a ton, the lead went from 5 seconds down to like 2 and Byron had made up half a second a lap the last couple of laps before the yellow.
Byron and Bowman are both great drivers. But being a great driver on a team with Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson makes anyone else look mediocre at best. As for active drivers they really don't fall all that far in the rankings. The only drivers with more wins than them are the veteran drivers with substantially more years in the cup series than they have.
Of the current Hendrick Motorsport drivers Byron has the potential but all cards must align Elliot and Larson are already proven capable While Bowman is kind of the underdog it seems
It's crazy how fickle fans can be, I get it's a new season but last year this man only got 11 Top 10s, he wins one race and all of a sudden he's a Championship contender. Obviously he is a contender along with anyone else who wins in the regular season cuz of the format but he's not changing from inconsistent to contender overnight. If he can keep this up then yes but right now its too soon to tell.
During summer last year I think they were just trying to build a notebook and feel out the car because if you look at the playoffs he magically just started right back up this year they have a notebook he knows what he needs and if he is what he has always been he should have a big year this year
He scored more points in the playoffs than anyone but Logano & Hamlin, if they hadn’t missed the Martinsville setup it was possible for him to make the Final 4. Making the Final 4 makes you a title contender no matter what happened February-October.
Both he and bowman are so back and forth. I mean they are at least winning a race or two each season, but they aren’t chase and Kyle. It’s really hard to believe in a lot of drivers abilities when they have zero personality to stand out beyond where they place each week. This new generation has zero personality apart from the few that are known as demolition drivers.
As a Byron fan. I agree with all your points. Im so over the hot and cold streaks. Byron is so inconsistent it isn't even funny. I really hope this is the season where he can come to his own. Because I can't take anymore of the back and forth with him.
I feel like he just has a kinda immature personality. Like when he does good at the beginning of the year, he takes that like he can take a break for most of the year until the playoffs
I think he’s good enough to win multiple races per year and make deep playoff runs. Idk about a championship though. He’s still the 4th guy at HMS imo but maybe the best “4th” guy they’ve ever had.
When he won his first race he was the 11th youngest person to ever win a race at the time. The only drivers who have had seasons better than Byron’s best at a younger age than Byron’s ran a Cup season at are Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano & Chase Elliott. Byron’s also a win away from matching the win count of the guy he replaced at Hendrick’s, Kasey Kahne, production in the same car despite Kahne getting that car during his mid to late 30’s which is historically when drivers peak and Byron’s time in the car occurring during his early 20’s. If that’s disappointing to you then you just had unrealistic expectations IMO.
When chase is healthy I put Hendricks drivers in this order chase Larson Bowman then bryon but not making excuses for William but he has less cup experience than his teammates but he is finding his footing and is getting better
@@mikeclark7026 Kyle talent is more but he makes a lot more mistakes is the only reason I put chase over Kyle just 1 example of why is the road coarse last year where he completely went in to fast and took tye Dillion out and had a car capable to win and make a bone head move like that and they are alot more examples of why
@@JJA1987 I really like Bowman and then no he's way underrated but I just hope he continues to do just chase and Larson are 2 of the best 4 drivers out there
@@garyk76 Yeah. That doesn’t change the chasm of talent difference between them. Kyle has done in 2 years in top equipment more than Chase did in his career combined. Which isn’t an attack on Chase. Kyle is on another level. The way he was splitting between lap cars yesterday and not losing speed, there are maybe 2 other people in the field who can do that (one also names Kyle) and Chase isn’t one of them.
Do you think William Byron is a true 2023 contender?
If his consistency picks up absolutely
Frustrating being a Byron fan. Dude has so much potential.
Been just a disappointment will see where this goes though
I think he has a great chance to make it far this year
He finished 6th last year. I think he definitely has a chance.
The potential for Byron to make a championship run is there it just depends on if they can clutch up when it matters
Exactly when Jimmy Johnson won all the time nascar got boring real fast.
@@MayoFilms83 woops teehee 🤪
@George Killer hopefully it doesn’t take him leaving his original team to be successful 😬
I hope he does well this year. From his year at KBM, he’s shown that he can dominate and with Elliott down and out, the #24 team might get the resources needed to contend.
Byron is the driver I follow the closest in Cup. There were so many races last year where he had bad luck, and was not good enough to dig out of the hole. That's probably his biggest weakness, but also one that can be learned away. The peak for a cup series driver tends to be in their mid thirties, and I think Byron will be a champion before he's done, but he's still got some maturing to do. He's one of the most purely talented drivers in the garage, though.
I think this is going to be Byron's year. I think he's going to win 5 or 6 races this year. That being said, I think there are a lot of drivers that made a very good career of running inconsistent and winning a handful of races every year.
Bold prediction but I think he can do it
i'm big on the byron bandwagon. he can easily replicate that 2021 form and become one of the threats to win every weeknd(remember, he's only 25). he's one of my picks for the championship 4, i know he'll come good on it.
It seems like a lot of people forget just how young William is. He’s younger than Bell, Reddick, Briscoe, Blaney. He’s pretty much the youngest of the drivers who actually have a shot to win every week.
Avg. finish and top-10's are such an archaic stats in the stage racing era. He scored so many stage points last year and that was a big reason for his career high championship finish. If you want a true representation of how fast a driver actually is during the entire race you need to start looking at avg. running position, laps led, fastest laps, and driver rating.
They should definitely be a contender. All 4 Hendrick cars (assuming they all win and there's no injury in the playoffs) should make the Round of 8. Byron and Bowman will both have great years in 2023.
William Byron nascar career since 2015 has been very interesting
2015 won the k@n east title and made his trucks debut
2016 won 7 trucks races won the owners championship for kbm and won rookie of the year
2017 in xfinity won the championship won 4 races and won rookie of the year
2018 in cup won rookie of the year
2019 won the daytona 500 pole and made the playoffs
2020 won his 1st career race
2021 got his 1st top 10 points finish
2022 won multiple races for the first time made the round of 8 and finished 6th in points
2023 swept all 3 stages in a race for the first time in his career
so yeah its been a rather interesting career for him i could also add last year he got Spire Motorsports their 1st trucks win to
1:45 this was the first race i attended after becoming a new nascar fan and ever since i've been a fan of william byron, glad to see he's shaping up to do great things this season cause i know he can
Byrons car at the end of last year were horrible, I think they were testing packages for this year at different tracks. Right when playoff started again the cars he was given we’re actually good again and he started competing. He also did get a bit unlucky with some races where he did have a good car at, such as Darlington where Joey put him in the wall and instead of finishing 2nd he finished 15th
True. He picked up in the playoffs. I expect him to run well.
It seems like because he won 2 races early last year and was one of the few truly guaranteed playoff drivers hms used him as a setup guinea pig
He can be this or that each season.
2021, 1 win and he had a streak of 10 top 10's in a row
2022, 2 wins and was a threat for the championship,
2023, a win. What can he do this year?? Only time will tell
There's nothing confusing about it, and nothing "inconsistent" about the 24 team/Byron himself. The pit crew is just ungodly awful. In probably 10-14 of the races in that 18 race stretch before the playoffs last year, he had solid top 5/10 speed and should have won at least one race (Darlington for one...), but seemingly every race his pit crew would lose 10-15 total spots on pit road forcing him to constantly get knocked around and fight through the mid field. And if his pit crew wasn't losing him spots, he was just getting wrecked when running well. Wrecked in one of the many big ones at the 600 after running top 10, had one of the best cars at Atlanta 2 when he got caught up in a large crash after I believe leading the most laps up to that point, and at the Indy GP he was running 4th with one of the faster cars but got nailed in the left rear by Elliott after he spun and broke the toe link.
You forgot to mention how last year, the good chunk, if not majority, of his pit stops, his pit crew lost him positions rather than gain, or keep his position
he's a contender for being the best at burnouts, he's really good at the tip-in part of a burnout
It’s not just his fault all the time.
He gets caught up in other peoples crap more times then NASCAR TH-camrs care to admit. For most of last year his pit crew was one of the worst when it came to clutch stops. And let us not forget he was a Joey Logano snow plowing away from winning at Darlington last year for win 3. Bad luck follows him and I’m getting tired of people thinking it’s just on him.
I think he's a contender he's gotten better every year and this is the second season with Rudy in a cup car
3rd year
I hope he does good this season
Being only 25 years old, I think the future is extremely bright for ol Willy B. Can see him contending for championships for many years
I’ve been waiting for this one. 😂
As a Byron fan who listens in on the radio just about every week, a large majority of the time when he doesn’t run well it’s either just flat out Bad luck (somebody wrecks him, flat tire) or a lot of times Rudy tries to do a strategy or make an adjustment to the car and it just doesn’t work out and results in him getting stuck mid pack. It happened a lot during last summer between bad luck and just bad pit strategies or adjustments. Pit crew wasn’t the greatest last year and made a lot of mistakes also. I think they can be a contender if they can just stay consistent.
He’s doing great this year
I’m not sold on Byron just yet. Sure he looked good yesterday but I’m not prisoner of the moment like a lot are. I need to see more
Byron is a star in the making imo, he's still really young and doing better than most guys at his age
2021 he was consistent and didn’t lead or win much, 2022 he won multiple times and led as much as anyone in the series but wasn’t consistent, 2023 if he combines those together that’s a title contender
William is definitely a guy I love rooting for in the current Cup Series. I do honestly think he's got something, Hendrick probably wouldn't have picked him if they didn't see something in him. Though time will ultimately tell how this season goes, I feel it's worth looking at his future with optimism.
Also, BYRON SWEEP, BABY! WOOOO!
I appreciate you admitting it. Not going to lie, I had a feeling that this prediction would go south.😂
I think to really understand the slump last year you need to look at Logano wrecking him to steal 1st at Darlington. That feud got in his head and affected his performance.
The results haven’t shown it but he was at the front of the pack at Daytona until the end and got involved in a crash. And he was battling for a win at Fontana while pit road mistakes completely costed him. He very well could have started this year with a win and 2 top 5’s/10’s
Last year they won early locked in then was the test car for HMS. Turned it back on as soon as the playoffs started.
As a diehard Byron fan (since 2015), the one thing he and his team need to figure out is how to finish. I was keeping tabs last year on every race he had top-10 speed; when the regular season ended, he was fast enough in 22 of 26 races to get top-tens (even had winning speed). However, he only managed 5 top-tens in that span. Why? Poor strategy, car/parts failures, driver error, wrecks/bad luck, pit mistakes, you name it! Fontana last week was a great example; fast car on short runs and early in the race, but poor adjustments, a smack on the wall, and a penalty ruined it. In conclusion, he has the speed to be a contender, but he and his team need to learn to keep it all race long, and all season long. If he can, he could be the best HMS driver out there...
Yes he might go inconsistent but I think its different this year but sometimes he just gets wrecked cant do anything about bad luck
Byron is probably the most fascinating driver to speculate on in the entire cup series garage. Even for how weird, inconsistent, but yet strong, dominating some of his performances has been he can range from mid-pack to a championship contender. I do believe some of this is related to being apart of the team of 2 young superstar drivers for teammates, so the pressure will be on.
I do believe there is another question to be asked. Will we see Byron step up with Elliott's injury? Not even a full week in he certainly has but will he cement himself as a star of the sport with the weeks and months to come?
He’s a contender. The days of rookies coming in and dominating are gone. Takes a long time now to be find a groove these days.
Chastain is the closest we’ve gone in a long time to Gordon.
With Byron being so young, I see his career floor being Casey Khane-ish, with his Ceiling being TBD. He's 25 and still has 15 years of racing cup left if he stays at this level or gets better. I think he's here to say and going to be a solid driver for a long time. Like others have said, hes definitely Blaney tier right now (on the cusp of being a superstar but not quite yet, maybe not ever) but in a different way. Blaney is consistent but doesn't won a ton vs byron is streaky - he's either really hot or really not for extended races in a row.
William reminds me of a young Jeff Gordon before he found his footing where is feast or phantom he's going to be very good just thinking he gets this year and next year where he's had so many different crew chiefs to be a young cup driver it has hurt his growth some but he will be a super star in the next few years I'm not saying he will be as good as chase or Larson but won't be far from them
If he can finish out races he’s the best hendrick driver I think the new car kinda hurt him he needed more time to learn it than other but I think he’s got it down now
With this playoff format anything is possible. He had a terrible second half of the regular season and still ended up 6th in the final standings. I really believe that if he wins just one race in the playoffs this year he will make the final 4
Last summer 24 fans would cringe during cautions because there were far too many mishaps on pit road. Sure, he's still learning, but going into the playoffs last season the pit crew had cleaned things up (and it looks like that trend has continued). The entire team is only going to get better.
Im still convonced last year was sandbagging for set ups
It’s true. When each Hendrick car locks in they assign 1 or 2 of their drivers to testing, Byron and Bowman (Larson wasn’t picked but did mainly test at playoff tracks)
As a Byron fan
He’s like a Greg Biffle
Not as good as his Roush teammates
But can be consistent and have as much pace as his teammates
Still only 25 too which is kind of insane
Hendrick needs to divest in all 4 of its drivers, not just allocate 90% of the budget to Elliott. Byron has potential, especially after running down Larson before the caution came out, he just needs good equipment up to par with Elliott's, and a bit more training on some tracks to keep this momentum going. As history shows, he can dominate on one track, yet struggle the week after. They need to tweak some bits to ensure a good balance for him
Well, since Elliot is out, they have no choice now.
Kyle Petty made the comparison of Ryan Blaney being like Kasey Kahne, which made no sense because they're almost nothing alike. I see that more with Byron being like him with how streaky Kahne was early in his career
He has the potential to be a contender. Inconsistency is his biggest issue. If he can put those problems aside, watch out
Byron and Bowman look like they’re gonna have some amazing runs this year. I see both of them making the Round of 8.
Bowman keeps on the pace he's going currently he could make the Final 4
@@JJA1987 Bowman is my driver and i truly wish him well but there are so many really good drivers this year. With the smaller spoiler package if those two can master it then fine.
I'm one of Byron's biggest fans out there and I believe he has the potential to win it all this year or in the next few years. What a lot of people fail to bring up or notice if you've watched him closely especially last year, 90 to 80% of the time when he was running well especially middle of the season, he always had something go wrong. Either got wrecked, had a problem, a slow stop or penalty, or an untimely caution came out late when he would've had a top 10 or 5 finish in said race. With that being said however, yes this win was a statement that he is a very solid driver and can win races and dominate plus be there when it matters. This year Is a year to do it and I hope we can see him hoist the cup at sessons end 🔥🙏🙏🙏
Hendricks secretly switched Crews without anybody finding out?
Personally i feel like all of the Hendrick drivers can be streaky at times. even Larson. Byron also isn't usually a driver that causes too many wrecks. He gets caught up in them, but most of the time he didn't start it.
Byron definitely has potential, he just needs to step up in the clutch, when it really comes down to it.... I would say, given the fact that Chase is, very unfortunately going to be out for a little while, and if he really wants to show what he's made of, NOW, is the time to step up and perform
I am a Byron fan and remember saying last year that he'd be hard to handle if they could put a whole race together. Sunday proved he had a bad fast car, good strategy, and was able to make those calls to adjustments to help fix the car. I really hope that isn't just a flash in the pan performance because I think he really can be a contender.
He is the Kasey Kahne of HMS.
If Byron can put together the consistency of 2021 and the dominance (at times) of 2022, then he will definitely be a title contender. Either way, he’s settling in. 5 wins and at least 1 win in 4 straight seasons shows he’s talented. A complete season with the highlights of dominance is the next step
Starting to think, consistent
Idk if it's just bias, but it feels like he's getting shafted by his pit crew more often than not
I hate to cop out on your question but I think this will have to be answered after a few more races. We thought he was coming into his own when he went out and won Homestead in '21, and now here we are 2 years later still asking if he's about to step into the role we thought he would as a championship level driver.
Byron is a strange driver. One day he’ll be up front leading laps like he was yesterday or be a mid pack driver finishing their at races end. He hasn’t strung together the consistent finishes that we know he can. If he can string together consistent finishes week in and week out he’ll be a contender.
He's a contender, he's been getting more and more better since his first 3 years in cup, and there was times where he looked real good in the track, he gets into trouble of no fault of his own, like with Darlington for example, but he's getting better, Vegas showed that he is a contender, like I saw a bit of Jeff Gordon in him
i keep showing up in your footage of martinsville. I'm the guy in the bright green and black jacket at 3:37
I honestly think he’ll finish his career with around 15-20 wins if he stays in good equipment for his career.
But I don’t think we’ll ever view him as a could’ve been champion that didn’t enough breaks the same way we think of Kasey Kanye, Tim Richmond Greg Biffle, or a Davey Allison.
Im gonna say borderline contender, he is slowly progressing and im thinking with another year he will for sure be a contendee with Elliot and Larson
If he's confusing to you. I can't imagine what you think about Bubba, Dillon, Almarola, Suarez and Stenhouse. Looooooots of starts, very few results.
He probably thinks bubba is a championship contender which he might be Suarez is improving but he’s probably not gonna be a champion Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 but that’s about it and almarola just wants to retire
I just hope he finds consistency soon
you just make him sound like a Mickey driver when he has demonstrated consistent speed. Byron is like Bell in many aspects but I look at qualifying, Byron can put a car up there which I think is crucial. He can really do great things when he's set
He’s as good as bell and a few years younger I think being younger will help him out in the long run because he has had more time to learn than others because hendrick didn’t have intentions of kicking out of the team he knew he would take time and learn and now I think it’s starting to really pay off
William Buron is the man!! Big fan
He's hot and cold. Let's see how he does the rest of the season. Yes he dominated this race but the rest of the season will tell the whole story..
Inconsistent 24 team is the old 5 car so being consistent hasn't been a thing since the mid 90s
The real 24 team is the 9 car
I bet Byron’s season will be very similar to last year. Win a 2 or 3 races and then completely disappear for contention until the playoffs and make it to the round of 8 maybe
I just find it hard to believe that at this point in his career the inconsistency has most to do with the driver. That’s what doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s clear that he’s improved every season and that he’s earned the respect of the drivers and proven that he can win at the highest level in this sport. I’m going to chalk up his weird 2022 slump to his team testing different setups, though I’m not sure that’s been proven, but we saw how fast he was as soon as the playoffs started. That’s why i don’t think the inconsistency is on the driver there. It doesn’t add up to me. You don’t get 2 wins early in the season and then just start to suck because of driver error, and then look like the guy to beat again in the playoffs. I don’t buy it. Byron is for real, and I dare say this is the season the inconsistency stops, and he legitimizes himself as a threat to win each week
Same they were building a new notebook with the new car and how it drives on each track with different setups and this year I think it’s gonna pay off in a big way
He's definitely a contender he reminds me of a young Jeff Gordon before he won his first championship where he could win but wasn't consisted but looks like he has the being consistent and goes back to back
I can see William Byron winning at least one championship.
It's ironic that Elliott was out and all 3 other drivers showed out!! Hmm??
I wonder how your tune changes it he hade made the final 4 in 2021. He was leading at the Roval late, and if NASCAR black flags the #9 car for the loose bumper, Byron wins and makes the round of 8. He scored the most points out of anyone in that round, easily makes the final 4.
When you think back at 2021 he should have won the Roval,Michigan,Pocono, and Kansas and every time is was stuff out of his control that would take him out
@@prestonfreels1665 Facts. He was leading by five seconds at Michigan with like 20 to go when it started DRIZZLING which brought the caution out. Definition of bad luck.
Yes was best driver in 2023 won 6 races
Byron is similar to Kasey Kahne early years but I think Byron will be a champion in the new future he’s definitely a contender
From what I’ve seen watching as a casual(+) fan is he’s very much a crew chief driver. If the car is close he can capitalize on it and win but if the car is lacking he lacks the ability to convey to his crew chief how to improve it. Just my opinion.
I think drivers mostly want to be good when they want to be. Byron is easy to collect for his diecast, it’s more exciting when they don’t win as much! Specially for their fans.
love seeing the 24 win 👍
I feel like people forget how young he is tbh. I believe his race craft will develop as he gets older.
I feel like everybody is completely overlooking the concept that he's already locked into the playoffs. Perhaps they're just not giving him the same equipment after he's won his way in, cost cutting to help run a 4-car operation in a league that keeps them running at a negative every year. He doesn't need to run consistent the whole year, running the risk of wrecking good equipment. If you ask me for my theory on things, him and Hendrick Motorsports are just exposing the system.
I agree Byron has been so back and forth. If he can’t string together consistent top tier finishes,he will never become a true championship contender.
I believe the Darlington incident with Logano really changed Byron for the worst. Going from a what looked like a dominant future to absolutely nothing after Darlington.
Byron was rock solid on Sunday. Was dominant all day. But Larson would have won were it not for the Almirola spin. Still, he restarted on old tires and still held off the field. He deserves it.
If you watch back the Fox broadcast, I’m not so sure about Larson winning, those intervals had dropped a ton, the lead went from 5 seconds down to like 2 and Byron had made up half a second a lap the last couple of laps before the yellow.
William Byron is this generations Ryan Blaney 😂
YEESS MY FAVOURITE DRIVER
Byron and Bowman are both great drivers. But being a great driver on a team with Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson makes anyone else look mediocre at best. As for active drivers they really don't fall all that far in the rankings. The only drivers with more wins than them are the veteran drivers with substantially more years in the cup series than they have.
Of the current Hendrick Motorsport drivers Byron has the potential but all cards must align
Elliot and Larson are already proven capable
While Bowman is kind of the underdog it seems
Bowman's going to get better as this year progresses. Byron has to not be inconsistent and not disappoint which he's constantly done
Byron reminds me a lot of Kasey Khane, either he’s hot or he’s not.
It's crazy how fickle fans can be, I get it's a new season but last year this man only got 11 Top 10s, he wins one race and all of a sudden he's a Championship contender. Obviously he is a contender along with anyone else who wins in the regular season cuz of the format but he's not changing from inconsistent to contender overnight. If he can keep this up then yes but right now its too soon to tell.
During summer last year I think they were just trying to build a notebook and feel out the car because if you look at the playoffs he magically just started right back up this year they have a notebook he knows what he needs and if he is what he has always been he should have a big year this year
He scored more points in the playoffs than anyone but Logano & Hamlin, if they hadn’t missed the Martinsville setup it was possible for him to make the Final 4. Making the Final 4 makes you a title contender no matter what happened February-October.
Inconsistent... He had the exact same start at the beginning of last year. He has to prove he can last
Byron Larson and Bowman are gonna go 1-2-3 in 2023
Both he and bowman are so back and forth. I mean they are at least winning a race or two each season, but they aren’t chase and Kyle. It’s really hard to believe in a lot of drivers abilities when they have zero personality to stand out beyond where they place each week. This new generation has zero personality apart from the few that are known as demolition drivers.
He's both. He's a inconsistent contender
As a Byron fan. I agree with all your points. Im so over the hot and cold streaks. Byron is so inconsistent it isn't even funny. I really hope this is the season where he can come to his own. Because I can't take anymore of the back and forth with him.
I feel like he just has a kinda immature personality. Like when he does good at the beginning of the year, he takes that like he can take a break for most of the year until the playoffs
Building the notebook for this year is what they did last year
I would say he's an inconsistent contender.
Bowman is the inconsistent one
Bryon is a contender
I think he’s good enough to win multiple races per year and make deep playoff runs. Idk about a championship though. He’s still the 4th guy at HMS imo but maybe the best “4th” guy they’ve ever had.
Byron is everything haters say about Bowman
Both of them could become top stars at anytime I think the haters forget about their stats
Byron personally has been a disappointment in the 24 can’t deny that
When he won his first race he was the 11th youngest person to ever win a race at the time. The only drivers who have had seasons better than Byron’s best at a younger age than Byron’s ran a Cup season at are Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano & Chase Elliott. Byron’s also a win away from matching the win count of the guy he replaced at Hendrick’s, Kasey Kahne, production in the same car despite Kahne getting that car during his mid to late 30’s which is historically when drivers peak and Byron’s time in the car occurring during his early 20’s. If that’s disappointing to you then you just had unrealistic expectations IMO.
My opinion Simple As That
Carbon copy of last season, win early be a non factor rest of the regular season and somehow get a good point finish at the end.
When chase is healthy I put Hendricks drivers in this order chase Larson Bowman then bryon but not making excuses for William but he has less cup experience than his teammates but he is finding his footing and is getting better
Bowman keeps running like he is currently he could be #2
Having Chase above Kyle is legit laughable.
@@mikeclark7026 Kyle talent is more but he makes a lot more mistakes is the only reason I put chase over Kyle just 1 example of why is the road coarse last year where he completely went in to fast and took tye Dillion out and had a car capable to win and make a bone head move like that and they are alot more examples of why
@@JJA1987 I really like Bowman and then no he's way underrated but I just hope he continues to do just chase and Larson are 2 of the best 4 drivers out there
@@garyk76
Yeah. That doesn’t change the chasm of talent difference between them. Kyle has done in 2 years in top equipment more than Chase did in his career combined. Which isn’t an attack on Chase. Kyle is on another level. The way he was splitting between lap cars yesterday and not losing speed, there are maybe 2 other people in the field who can do that (one also names Kyle) and Chase isn’t one of them.