William Byron Conquers Iowa Speedway and Secures Crucial Victory
Newton, Iowa – William Byron, already qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, proved his worth by securing a strategic victory at Iowa Speedway. Byron, who was second in the overall standings before the race, was looking to regain confidence after a series of less favorable results. Despite his strong position in the season, Byron faced challenges. In the last eight races, he had five results below 27th place. The victory in Iowa, where he has had success in other NASCAR categories, was a vital boost to his confidence.Byron’s strategy, risking fuel saving, resulted in his second victory of the season. He completed the last 144 laps of the race, which consisted of 350 laps, without stopping. The multiple yellow flags in the third stage of the race allowed him to conserve the fuel needed to reach the finish line. This victory gives him an 18-point lead over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, in the regular season title fight.I think we’ve been fast every weekend. I don’t remember a week where we’ve been slow; it’s just the results haven’t materialized. And that was starting to affect us a little bit and create some, “What’s going to happen next?”
William Byron
In addition to his victory at the Daytona 500, Byron has achieved eight top 10 finishes this season, including three second places. However, he has also faced difficulties, with a 37th place finish in Atlanta, a 40th place finish in the Chicago street race, and a 31st place finish in Dover. Last week, in Indianapolis, he finished in 16th place after a late pit stop for fuel. Byron’s crew chief, Rudy Fugle, anticipated the possibility of this victory.This is going to change the pendulum.
William Byron
Byron had fuel problems in Michigan and Indianapolis. Fugle, however, trusted his driver’s ability to handle the situation.He’s an incredible driver. I think he’s the best driver, overall, on the track right now. He’s mine, and I should say that. But I really think he’s maturing and gaining the experience to prove it. He’s very versatile and he’s a fighter. He has a hard line and fights against anything. He doesn’t give up.
Rudy Fugle
Byron admitted that he felt nervous in the final laps.Those are things he’s also improved on over the years, weathering the blows and what happens afterward. And, suddenly, you’re leading and you have a chance to win.
Rudy Fugle
Byron believed that there was still some fuel left at the end of the race.I knew what to expect. I knew what to look for, and all that in terms of if I ran out of fuel. But I was just thinking about conserving as much as I could, doing a lot of different things in the car, getting up early and just not using a lot of percentage of the throttle. So the guys did a really good job guiding me on what to do.
William Byron
Byron is now focused on the playoffs.I felt that if I could get out of turn four, get into the white flag, I could win the race. So that’s what I had in mind. And that was mostly true. When I did the burnout, at the end of the burnout, the fuel pressure went up. So I don’t know how many laps it would have been.
William Byron
I really feel like we needed to win a race like this, we deserve to win a race based on how we’ve grown all year, and it just wasn’t happening. It’s a big relief for us that one goes well. We’ve been running so well this year; I feel like this is going to be a big momentum boost for our team.
William Byron
