'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Following his Martinsville victory, William Byron shed light on his career trajectory with Hendrick Motorsports over the years.
In a historic race, celebrating the team's 40-year anniversary, William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott all lined up for a 1-2-3 finish in Martinsville Speedway. Byron took the lead with 73 laps to go, driving to his third victory of the season.
During the post-race press conference, Byron delved into his childhood dreams and the reality of his current achievements. When asked if he could have envisioned his current success as a 15-year-old dreaming of driving for Rick Hendrick, Byron admitted:
"I don't know. I don't know. I just know that I knew where I wanted to be. I knew that if I put the work in, I felt the first time I got in a race, I felt everything going on. It took a lot of work to catch up."
He added:
"I don't know. I think I just try to stack year after year and try to learn more. I'm surrounded by great people. I think that's the key in the whole thing, is people that believe in you, having a chance to go out there and give you what you need."
William Byron on his recent surge of victories compared to early career
Byron has 13 career race wins in the Cup Series so far, with 9 of them coming in the past one year. When asked, he acknowledged the challenges and intricacies of the sport that follow when maintaining such high levels of consistency. The HMS driver said:
"I think the more times that you win races, the more you realize how difficult it is and how many things have to go right just to stay on that edge to have what it takes to win."
Shedding light on the tedious work and brainstorming it took for the No. 24 team to maintain the levels of competitiveness, William Byron stated:
"We've been working super hard. I think we've learned and refined some things as we get through stretches where we have some difficult runs.
"But there's less doubt in our team that we can do it," he added. "I feel like that is a unique thing that comes with winning races, is knowing you're capable. If you get everything right and you do your job, you can still win."
Despite having three victories in the 2024 season, William Byron finds himself fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. His HMS teammate Kyle Larson leads the standings after eight races with 309 points, whereas Byron has 261.
