Might William Byron 3-Peat at Daytona 500?: 'I Hope So'

[ad_1] DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Blaney sat subsequent to William Byron after the Conflict as they answered questions final Wednesday about their second- and third-place finishes within the exhibition occasion.

The dialog turned to this weekend's Daytona 500.

"Attempt to see if we are able to make William not win one," Blaney quipped.

Byron responded: "You’re fairly good there."

Blaney was having none of it: "You received the final two. Shut up."

Byron can’t escape the truth that he'll try to go back-to-back-to-back within the Daytona 500. Simply how laborious is a three-peat?

Nicely, no driver has ever received three consecutive Daytona 500s within the 67-year historical past of the race.

So can he win three in a row when he races Sunday within the sport's greatest occasion?

"I hope so," Byron instructed me.

Can William Byron obtain the 3-peat in Daytona?

The Hendrick Motorsports driver doesn’t have any secret recipe for how one can win the Daytona 500. Contemplating that he didn’t end within the high 20 in his first six Daytona 500 begins earlier than successful in 2024, he doesn’t profess to be an professional on how one can win this occasion.

Final yr, he entered the final lap working ninth when the automobiles forward of him crashed. Then he slipped by on the skin and received a race that was as a lot a shock to him and his crew as anybody.

It’s not like he's going to look at a tape of how one can go keep away from a wreck and acquire eight spots on the ultimate lap.

"I do not know that I've watched the 500s again as a result of it simply performs out the way in which it does," Byron famous.

So the plan is much like different occasions he has ready for the Daytona 500:

"A part of it is unpredictable, however simply go down there and have a great speedweek," Byron stated concerning the Wednesday-to-Sunday schedule for the occasion. "And even when we do not have a great speedweek, it does not essentially matter for Sunday. However simply study what I must all through the week, drafting, make good choices.

"[I need to] study from what I did in Talladega within the fall, the place we had been sort of within the hunt and simply be a bit bit higher on superspeedways."

Studying the draft is a continuing evolution, as drivers study extra about how the present model of the Cup automotive handles the air.

William Byron stated that he'll be making sensible choices at this weekend's 500.

Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta are the three tracks the place NASCAR has to limit horsepower from its ordinary 670 or 750 to about 550 horsepower with a purpose to hold the automobiles from getting airborne. That ends in them racing in tight packs with little response time if somebody will get sideways in entrance of them. And since they're in such a pack, the airflow from the automotive in entrance sucks the automotive from behind towards it, which in flip pushes the automotive forward.

So having a great push on the proper second will be key to successful.

Some would argue that, since Byron has two Daytona 500 trophies, he might be content material in pushing a teammate to the win if he has no likelihood to win himself.

"I’m going to do no matter is the neatest determination on the monitor," Byron stated. "In the event that they're in entrance of me, and I haven't got actually a greater transfer to sort of get myself ready, then you are going to push them ahead and attempt to win the race for them.

"It simply sort of relies upon. I really feel like in drafting, you need to simply sort of place your self and typically the most effective transfer is simply to push."

Some drivers go total careers successful dozens of races however by no means the Daytona 500. Byron has 16 profession victories, together with the 2 within the sport’s greatest race.

"I by no means really feel like I put an excessive amount of strain on it in any case, however I all the time wish to go down there and have a great exhibiting and every thing like that," Byron stated. "[Having two wins] does not change something."

The one factor having these two wins does require is for Byron to seek out house in his dwelling to show them. He has them in the identical room, however they aren’t collectively in any type of "I’ve received two Daytona 500s" trophy case.

"Plenty of my trophies … I simply sort of put away the place I do not see them loads," Byron revealed to me. "However these are cool ones for certain. They're in the identical room, however they are not subsequent to one another. They are not like a shrine that I have a look at day by day, that’s for certain."

One factor completely different for Byron this yr: Chevrolet has a brand new physique type that theoretically ought to assist them within the draft.

Byron is aware of that this yr's new playoff format may change the trajectory of his season.

"I hope it is higher for us pushing," Byron stated. "We have wanted that for some time. We have been extra of the weak hyperlink on superspeedways for a bit bit now.

"So hopefully that helps us get a bit bit higher, and hopefully we are able to simply push higher."

There’s that hope that Byron is understood to have. He is obtained hope the automobiles run higher and the hope he can discover himself ready to capitalize on the end. He has led simply 14 laps within the two Daytona 500s he has received.

The winner has a few full days of media following the victory, and Byron hopes to expertise that once more, even when it will probably impression the efficiency the subsequent couple of weeks.

"It is sort of a whirlwind, which is enjoyable since you simply received an enormous race," Byron stated. "In order that adrenaline, these feelings, sort of carry you thru, however you are behind. So you need to get caught up and ensure your crew's prepared for the subsequent race and prepared for the subsequent month."

Final yr, Byron did simply that as he received the regular-season title. This yr, NASCAR did away with successful being an computerized qualifier for the playoffs, so Byron is aware of that, whereas the Daytona 500 winner can have a bounce on the sector, a driver nonetheless wants to complete within the high 16 in regular-season factors to make the postseason.

"The first time round, we had been sort of struggling for a month and looking for our footing and by no means felt like we'll after which we had been in a position to win a race," Byron instructed me. "It’s simply a kind of issues. It does not change something.

"Particularly this yr with the brand new format, it is not going to imply that you simply're within the playoffs or something like that, so that you’ve simply obtained to maintain pushing."