NASCAR CUP SERIES SOUTH POINT 400 LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript Highlights: THE FACT THAT YOU’VE HAD SOME SUCCESS AT LAS VEGAS, HOW DOES THAT HELP YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO THIS NEXT ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS?“I feel like Las Vegas has been a pretty good track for me in the past. I’ve scored a lot of Stage points in the past races. I think the aggression level is going to be really high on the restarts and that’s kind of your chance to make up ground for a lot of guys at 1.5-mile tracks with the 550 horsepower. So yeah, I think those are going to be crazy. My spotter and I have been working really hard on trying to be really good on those restarts. I think we were good at Michigan. I think we’ve been good at the last 550 horsepower tracks. I’m pretty excited for Las Vegas based on our past history and the way we’ve been running on those tracks.”
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN TAKE FROM THE PRESSURE AT THE BRISTOL RACE RUN AND APPLY IT TO THE REST OF THE PLAYOFFS?“I think for sure. I think for us, we’ve already kind of been through that pressure moment. A lot of guys maybe haven’t that we’re racing against haven’t been through that. Yeah, I feel like for us, we learned a lot about ourselves on Saturday. I feel like we learned a lot about how we can come through under pressure and how we can bring a good race car and how we can execute the race really well. So, it’s been a little while since we’ve had as strong a race as that throughout, and no mistakes. There’s always adversity in a race, but I feel like we handled the adversity that we did have really well and brought it home in third place. So, with that being said, Las Vegas is a lot different than a short track, but I do feel like the way we did perform is going to carry over.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WILL REMEMBER ABOUT THAT RACE? WHERE DOES IT RANK FOR YOU CAREER-WISE?“It’s pretty high up there. I was saying this after the race that I feel like I had a similar situation to make it in last year into the Playoffs in general, with my first win, so that was a big deal. But yeah, this one was pretty awesome. I think any time you can do well at Bristol, it’s been a good track for me, but I haven’t had the finishes. It was nice to be there at the end of 500 laps and have a shot to win, honestly, and be really close and see the leaders. I think that was really cool for me and kind of a new feeling. I was excited. I love that night race. Every driver really does. So, it was cool to do well.”
DO YOU BREAK DOWN THE PLAYOFFS SO DEEP THAT YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW MANY POINTS YOU WANT TO SCORE IN THE ROUNDS AND HOW MANY YOU NEED TO SCORE THIS WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS? OR DO YOU NOT GET THAT DEEP?“I think the team, for sure, does. They definitely kind of know what to expect points-wise, that can help us advance through the rounds. But honestly, the biggest thing is just having a really good race. In the first round, I think having one really good race is almost enough, but I think this race (round) you’ve got to have two or three really good races. So yeah, the Stage points create such a different playing field. If you get a lot of Stage points, you put yourself in a way better position. And you put a good finish on top of that, you’re well above a lot of guys.  I think that’s the biggest thing I focus on is trying to get those Stage points and trying to put myself in a good spot for the end.”
LOOKING AHEAD TO TALLADEGA, HOW DO YOU PLAY TRYING TO JOCKEY FOR STAGE POINTS AND HOPE TO AVOID THE BIG ONE EARLIER IN THE RACE?“It’s tough. I think the wrecks and the Stages are possible, but I honestly feel like you’ve just got to go as hard as you can. I’ve tried to play the lay back getting to the front, and all that. There are times that you can chill out just because the momentum of the race isn’t maybe that important in that time, but you’ve got to try to go for those Stage points and put yourself in a good spot. For me, personally, I try to go for the points and see what can happen.”
SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY LAS VEGAS IS THE MOST PREDICTABLE RACE IN THIS ROUND. OTHERS SAY VEGAS IS MORE UNPREDICTABLE THAN THE ROVAL BECAUSE EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT IS THERE. IS VEGAS A MORE PREDICTABLE RACE OR A WILDCARD RACE?“Just because it’s the first race of the round, I think it adds some unpredictability there. A lot of guys can have early mistakes and mishaps at this first race in the round. It’s very easy to kind of take yourself out of it pretty early on. As far as speed and performance goes, I think you kind of know who the big hitters are going to be at this race with the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) and hopefully us and some of the Gibbs cars, and just knowing who has run well at the 1.5 miles. But that doesn’t really tell the whole story because it can come down to restarts and then anybody can win, basically. I think you’ve just got to put yourself in a good position and then you’ve got to go do really well in those restarts. That’s probably what it’s going to come down to. It’s tough. Las Vegas isn’t as straight forward as we used to think it was. And then, I think the ROVAL is definitely tough because road courses are difficult to get through traffic and all those things. But I definitely look at Talladega as the most unpredictable. And at the other two you somewhat control what you do.”
REGARDING RESTARTS, WHAT IS THE KEY THERE? IS IT GETTING THE SHIFTS RIGHT AT THE START? IS IT CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTIONS? WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT MATTER AND WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE GOTTEN BETTER?“It’s just obviously aggression, but it’s just anticipation, obviously; trying to anticipate where the runs are going to come from. The more you watch tape and the more you kind of understand what’s happened in the past, the better prepared you are for what scenario is going to happen. But it honestly comes down to anticipation and having a good spotter that knows what runs are going to come and is preparing you for it. Tab (Boyd) and I have worked a lot on that over the past six months to a year. You’ve got to be up front at the 1.5-miles to have success. A lot of that comes from restarts and holding your track position and things like that. It’s important.”
HOW HAVE YOU AND RUDY FUGLE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER THIS YEAR? WHAT’S BEEN GOING GREAT AND WHAT DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE ON?“Honestly, the thing with Rudy and me has just been experience. I think we’re trying to learn so much in a quick time. A lot of the teams and drivers we’re racing against have worked together for a couple of years now and that has hurt us a little bit with no practice. But I feel like we’ve kind of overcome that with really good communication. We have a lot of meetings throughout the week about set-up and what we want to do going to the race track. Although we really don’t have time to really practice it, I feel like we show up really strong. I think that’s been an adjustment. I feel like we’ve done really well in pressure situations and opportunities to win. He knows how to push my buttons and knows how to get the most out of me. As any crew chief, that’s the biggest thing is trying to get everything you can out of your driver. I feel like he’s done a really good job of knowing how to do that with me and he showed that at Bristol. We had good communication throughout the race and didn’t let the pressure get to us and make crazy decisions and had a really good race.”
YOU WERE TOP 5 IN POINTS IN THE REGULAR SEASON. DID THIS FIRST ROUND SURPRISE YOU AS HOW STRESSFUL IT TURNED OUT TO BE?“Yeah, it definitely got turned on its side with everything happened at Darlington. Darlington seems like years ago now that we’ve been through the last two weeks. Just thinking back to that race and how much we overcame, to have a flat tire and crash after that, was just devastating. We thought we had put ourselves in a good position to overcome all that. At Richmond, we just kind of laid an egg and wasn’t really that fast and that was a big bummer, too. But we overcame it at Bristol and had a really good run and set the tone for the rest of our year. It was a tough stretch for six or seven weeks of just not getting the finishes. But we’ve had the speed and I feel like now we’re going to get the finishes.”
AFTER BRISTOL, DO YOU AND RUDY NOW JUST TAKE A BREATH AND GET EVERYBODY TO RESET AND TAKE A BREATH? OR IS IT JUST BUSINESS AS USUAL AND DON’T NEED TO REMIND EVERYONE TO JUST REFOCUS?“A little bit of both. I think it was nice to have Sunday to kind of reflect and have that off-time. I know the guys worked on the car still. I think everyone kind of got a chance to breathe and reset. I don’t feel like we’ll have any issues about showing up at Vegas fresh and ready. We’ve got an extra this week to really recover and get prepared. I feel like we’re going to be ready when we get on the plane and go out there. I don’t think that will be an issue.”
WHAT’S THE MOOD IN THE ENTIRE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAMP?“I think there’s a lot of strength in the individual teams and obviously, the whole company that brings cars that we’re capable of bringing to the race track. We had a difficult stretch there with the start of the Playoffs. I would say half of our guys ran well at Richmond. And we all ran well at Bristol and that was a really good sight to see because Bristol is a tough place, and it can really be hard on you. So yeah, I think we’re poised to do really good things and we’ve overcome some things and there will be a lot more as we go through the Playoffs.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RACE AT A TRACK WITH THAT HOMETOWN CONNECTION, LIKE CHARLOTTE, IN THE PLAYOFFS?“Oh, it’s amazing. I love going to Charlotte every year to race. I always have a really warm welcome there and it’s a really important race track to me. We’d love to win there this year and I feel like I’ve got the opportunity to this year with the way we’ve been on road courses. I’m pretty excited for it. We just have to go there and perform well.”