William Byron opens up on his Talladega strategy after Las Vegas horror shakes his championship dream

William Byron outlined the No.24 team's strategy for Sunday's Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver believes it's a 'fine balance' between going for stage points and preserving fuel.

Byron is coming off a disastrous weekend at Las Vegas. He was a leading contender for the win, but was met with a final-stage crash that abruptly halted his chances.

The DNF placed him 15 points below the cutline, while his playoff rivals finished top-4 by race end. Byron is trailed by Chase Elliott in the playoff standings, and Kyle Larson is sandwiched between a fleet of JGR drivers.

Heading into Talladega, however, Byron and Larson have a history of winless outings at the track, while Chase Elliott won a playoff Talladega race in 2022. Nonetheless, all hope isn't lost for the No.24 driver, as he last scored two consecutive third-place finishes at the high-banked oval.

Reflecting upon his chances, Byron spoke to the media and said(via Jayski),

“Talladega is where anything and everything can happen and change quickly. We would like to collect stage points but also strategy will be big when it comes to fuel. Plus, you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where your race could end early all because you pushed too hard for stage points. It’s going to be a very fine balance and all we can do is execute and see where the chips fall at the end.”

Talladega, unpredictable as ever, has witnessed ten different winners take the trophy in its recent races. William Byron, on the other hand, has been pretty successful at drafting tracks, seeing how he's won the last two Daytona 500s.

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Kyle Petty believes William Byron can bounce back at Talladega

Kyle Petty shared an optimistic take on William Byron's title hopes. The Cup Series veteran noted that Talladega is 'up in the air' and can produce unexpected results. Moreover, Petty believes HMS have regained their pace after their recent showing at Las Vegas.

"In the first segment, we saw William Byron drive away from the field. We haven't seen that in the Hendrick cars since early early in the season, so they were back," he said via NASCAR's official website.

"We saw William score major points up in the stages, but we also saw him lose in that final stage, doesn't make any difference, he's only down 15," he added.

Team Penske's Austin Cindric won the last race at Talladega, while Kyle Larson finished second. With no practice this weekend, the onus is on William Byron to execute a race-winning effort and secure a final four spot.

Saturday's Busch Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 1:30 PM ET, and Sunday's race is slated for 2 PM ET. Fans can watch the playoff race on NBC and HBO Max, or listen to radio updates via MRN and SiriusXM.