William Byron makes his stance crystal clear on supporting Alex Bowman at Daytona as playoff pressure intensifies

William Byron clinched the regular season title with a race to spare and has revealed that he'll 'definitely' help Alex Bowman secure a playoff spot at Daytona. He stressed that it's important to have 'allies' in the post-season, whether it's a Hendrick Motorsports driver or someone from the Chevrolet stable.

Bowman's playoff hopes are in jeopardy as he currently stands last on the cutline after Austin Dillon's win at Richmond. He's 29 points behind Tyler Reddick in the playoff standings.

With a maximum of 60 points available at Daytona, Bowman has to either outscore the 23XL driver or grab a win to secure his playoff bid. Reflecting upon the same, Byron was asked the following in a post-race press conference at Richmond:

"Knowing that the only Hendrick car that's not locked into the playoffs is Bowman and he's in a little bit of a precarious spot on the bubble, if the opportunity exists towards the end of that to be able to help him, is that something that could be on your mind?"

The 27-year-old answered,

"I'm definitely going to try to help all those guys at Daytona because, you know, and just Chevrolet in general. That's your best bet, you know. Going through the playoffs, I've learned that, you know, you just have to have allies. You know, they're never going to be like the ones you know; you're always racing, but it's good to be racing teammates," Byron repled (via Youtube/Cup scene, 7:57 onwards)

"So yeah. I think, try to be stronger within the group and try to help those guys out at Daytona for sure," added Byron.

Daytona being a superspeedway has its advantages for teammates wishing to draft each other into contention. Alex Bowman previously helped Chase Elliott secure his maiden win of the season at EchoPark Speedway, a track that has become known for pack racing nowadays.

Bowman and Elliott led a combined 73 laps in the event's final stages. Notably, the Np.48 driver led twice in the last 16 laps. However, when Elliott came down from fifth to second and was battling Brad Keselowski for the lead, Bowman gave him a bump and pushed him to the win.

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Alex Bowman complained of race manipulation at Richmond

Alex Bowman fell short of a win at Richmond and came in as runner-up but was left frustrated after feeling blocked by Jesse Love in the closing laps. He promptly took to the radio and accused the Richard Childress Racing driver of race manipulation.

“His teammate is f***** blocking me now. This is race manipulation,” he said.

Alex Bowman later clarified his comments in a post race interview with NASCAR reporter Petre Stratta.

"Well 33 was really fast, then stopped right in front of me... I was really frustrated on the radio and sometimes I just push the talk button, just lets you vent a little bit. I think we just needed to be better," he said.

Alex Bowman's post race interview at Richmond Raceway. Source: @X/peterstratta

Bowman also mentioned that Daytona is a must-win race for him. The HMS driver previously came close to a win at Miami after starting from pole.