Following a poor run at the Bristol Motor Speedway, William Byron soon took off to a great start at the Circuit of the Americas, grabbing the pole positions in all the pre-race events. The North Carolinian took this hot form into the final race and clinched another pole position for Hendrick Motorsports, making it his second finish inside the top-5 this season.
Despite this success in the season’s start, William Byron has now come out to rev his mouth with some ‘surprising’ words for his team, Hendrick Motorsports.
William Byron discusses season progress
Hendrick’s William Byron, who ended up in P3 spot with the most wins in 2023, has kicked off his 2024 NASCAR season on a rock-hard form, as clearly seen in his ‘fiery-hot’ run at last weekend’s EchoPark Automotive GP. This solid ‘pole-sitting’ sprint at the Circuit of the Americas marked him becoming the first driver since the legendary Jeff Gordon, to clinch multiple victories for three years in a row.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM radio, William Byron opened on his and HMS’ run so far in the 2024 Cup Series, by first reflecting on their unsatisfying result at the Phoenix Raceway: he grabbed the P18 spot, while his partner Kyle Larson took P14.
“I don’t think we allowed ourselves to get in a slump after Phoenix and think what could have been. We just focused on what is the next task at hand and how can we come out of the gate strong”, he started, reflecting on their ‘post-Phoenix’ strategy.
With his @COTA win, @WilliamByron became the first driver since @JeffGordonWeb to win multiple races for the third straight year, a stat he's particularly proud of.
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) March 28, 2024
🗣️ "I feel like we have a lot to prove […] there's still a lot to do."
🎧 Listen → https://t.co/MKhd9eLXG8 pic.twitter.com/2IZAKOKkRC
Despite a solid start to their 2024 campaign, Byron has revealed that Hendrick Motorsports, he and his teammate Kyle Larson, still has a lot to prove in the racetrack in the upcoming ’30-plus’ races of the season.
“I feel like we have a lot to prove going into this year, just so that we can maintain the level that we were in the past and there is still a lot do. I feel like it’s a great start but there is a whole summer and fall ahead of us and we just have to keep the gas down,” Byron concluded.
This North Carolinian is currently sitting in the 6th spot, one spot lower than Larson’s P5 position, in the Drivers’ Standings of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series.
These ‘a lot to prove’ words from Byron come right after he was seen celebrating his win with Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito at Circuit of the Americas.
Giancarlo Esposito joined William Byron’s COTA win celebration
In the aftermath of the EchoPark GP, ‘pole-sitter’ William Byron was seen celebrating his race victory with famous American actor Giancarlo Esposito, who is also widely known by show name ‘Gustavo Fring’, or simply ‘Gus’.
Giancarlo Esposito, who was earlier announced as the Grand Marshal for the COTA race, uttered the ‘Start Your Engines’ command at the start of the race, as part of the marketing campaign of his brand-new AMC/AMC+ series “Parish”.
Celebrated a win with Gus Fring 🤯 Really appreciate @quiethandfilms rooting for the 24! Heard he plays a driver in his new show Parish. Hope he learned a thing or two 😉 pic.twitter.com/SPmtxSzLsk
— William Byron (@WilliamByron) March 25, 2024
In the end, as the HMS’ No. 24 crossed the chequered flag as the ‘pole-sitter’, Esposito joined in the win celebrations and was seen capturing the festive moment in pictures. Byron, the winner at COTA, even went on to upload his celebration poses with the ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ actors on X (formerly Twitter).
He posted their ‘win- celebrating’ pictures with the caption, “Celebrated a win with Gus Fring. Really appreciate them rooting for the 24! Heard he plays a driver in his new show Parish. Hope he learned a thing or two.”
William Byron will next pilot HMS’ No. 24 Camaro at the Richmond Raceway on March 31st for the Toyota Owners 400 race in the Cup Series.
Can Byron clinch another pole position for Hendricks this weekend? If so, will Esposito again join his win celebration at Richmond? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
