Championship leader Willaim Byron hopes for solid execution on Sunday’s $8.8 million rewarding Kansas Cup playoff race

Willaim Byron has been the most impressive driver of the 2023 season.

Championship leader Willaim Byron hopes for solid execution on Sunday’s $8.8 million rewarding Kansas Cup playoff race

William Byron and Rudy Fugle (Via IMAGO)

Hendrick Motorsports’ Willaim Byron is one of the most favored drivers to win the 2023 Cup title. Byron has won the most races this season, including his maiden road course race win, which came at Watkins Glen. The 25-year last five races have been solid, and other than the P35 finish at Michigan, his every other finish was inside the top 15.

Other than the win at Glen, he also secured victories at Las Vegas, Phoenix, Darlington, and Atlanta. He has scored nine top-10 finishes other than victories from the 27 races this year. But he also has seven finishes outside the top 20 as well.  He started his playoff run with an impressive P4 finish while his teammate Kyle Larson secured the win.

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Byron, while talking about the upcoming playoff race at Kansas, pointed out that HMS had a solid race at Darlington last Sunday and has the potential to do the same this Sunday as well, as it has always been one of his strongest tracks. The No:24 Chevy Camaro ZL1 team’s plan for the race weekend is to secure a solid qualifying finish and execute on Sunday.

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“We had a solid race last weekend at Darlington (Raceway) and it was a good showing for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. I think we have the potential to have another solid race this weekend. Kansas (Speedway) has always been a strong track for me and Rudy (Fugle, crew chief),” Byron said, as reported by Speedway Media.

“I think our mile-and-a-half program has been really good this season. It’s been a while since we’ve raced on that style of track, though, so it’ll be interesting to see if any of the other teams have caught up with their setups. Hopefully, we can go in there, have a solid Saturday, and execute on Sunday,” Byron added. 

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William Byron’s crew chief predicts a tough race on Sunday

William Byron wins at atlanta (Credits: @TeamHendrick/Twitter)
William Byron wins at atlanta (Credits: @TeamHendrick/Twitter)

Rudy Fugle, the No:24 team crew chief, has played a massive role in the younger, impressive 2023 season. He successfully unlocked his true potential and made him the best driver on the team this year. His strategic calls during races have recovered solid praise as well.

But going to nest on Sunday’s race, he is worried about the uncertainty of weather. He said, “It’s going to be a tough one. Since they’ve moved this race at Kansas (Speedway) up a couple of weeks, you never know what you’re going to get with the weather.”

He expects a tire-heavy race on Sunday, and with the possibility of more than one caution coming out, having spare tires will be a premium. Fugle also pointed out that the race will play out just like last week but expects the cars to be much faster.

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