“You can’t drive in bubble wrap”: William Byron elaborates on his ‘aggressive’ game plan approach to sweep the Daytona weekend like Jimmie Johnson

William Byron has detailed his aggressive approach to avoid crashes and win the final regular-season race this weekend. The 2025 Daytona 500 winner has the chance to sweep both major NASCAR Cup races at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in a single season.

That last happened in 2013, when Jimmie Johnson won both the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400. Having clinched the regular season title, Byron now has his sights set on achieving another feat.

"I'm probably going to try to be up front and do all the things that it takes to win the race, just knowing the potential is there to be in a crash or whatever. You can't drive around in bubble wrap, you have to go out there and do your job and try to get a good finish. Usually, you crash more if you’re conservative. Yeah, go out there and be aggressive," William Byron said (via Racer.com).

Johnson led an impressive 94 of 161 laps and outdueled Tony Stewart to claim first place in the 2013 Coke Zero 400 just as two massive wrecks unfolded behind him. The seven-time NASCAR Cup champion was the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982 to sweep both Daytona races in a single season.

Meanwhile, Byron has two additional wins at Daytona International Speedway. He won the Daytona 500 in February 2024 and the Coke Zero 400 for his first ever Cup win in 2020. He also gave Hendrick Motorsports its first win in that race since 2014.

Byron also won the July Xfinity race at Daytona after leading 29 laps during his debut Xfinity Series season with JR Motorsports in 2017.

William Byron "in rhythm" heading to the playoffs

William Byron won at Iowa earlier this month after grabbing his first win at the season-opening Daytona 500 in February. He has also swept stage points and led a race-high of 243 laps at Darlington earlier this season.

The No. 24 Chevy driver has collected nine top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes so far. Byron has also secured his first regular-season championship in the Cup Series after missing out by one point to Tyler Reddick last year. Byron's 12th-place finish last week at Richmond locked in the title.

"The best 12th-place finish we've ever had," William Byron said.

Byron will enter the playoffs with 15 bonus points this season.

"This year we're coming in (to the playoffs), I feel like we're in rhythm, in sync. I feel like it’s better this way honestly. I feel like the years we've been on the other side, it's a lot of questions, a lot of doubt sort of that things are going to work out," he said during his post-race press conference.

The 32-year-old has finished third in the NASCAR Cup championship for the last two years, and will be aiming to go two better this time around.