William Byron Cautious About Kansas Performances – ‘Not Where We Should Be’

William Byron is cautiously eyeing his upcoming performance at Kansas Speedway as he continues his fight in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

In a conversation with the media before the race weekend, he explained, as quoted by NASCAR.com:

“I think that’s what makes our group really good because we’ve really come together during this time and we know we’re not where we want or need to be. But now is the time to start showing it and now is when it matters.”

Byron’s fight in the current playoffs is important. The best finish he secured in the Round of 16 was a ninth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a significant drop from his top-five finishes in previous playoff seasons. This is only the second time in Byron’s career that he has failed to finish in the top five in the first three playoff races (the last time was in 2019).

Looking ahead to the Kansas Speedway race, scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. EST, a strong performance is essential to continue in the playoffs. This race will set the stage for a challenging round that will conclude at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Byron’s history in Kansas was full of ups and downs; out of 13 starts his recent results have not been great, finishing 15th and 23rd. Byron commented on these results:

“I just had some problems at the beginning of both weekends.

“We seemed to have a lot of speed, but we had some difficulties. In 2023, I crashed in the first stage, damaged the car a bit, and this spring I hit the wall in qualifying.

“Just a few driver errors and I feel like it took away from the rest of the weekend or ruined the potential of our car. This weekend I just want to have a solid weekend, start to finish it and I feel like we can always have the speed in Kansas and I’m just trying to find the right balance for longer runs to have what we need to go there and perform well.” .

Entering the 1/8 finals, Byron is fourth in the table with a 14-point advantage over the elimination zone. A points reset ensures a clean sheet and Byron’s team are ready to take advantage of it.

“It’s definitely a very important track and a really good gauge of where everyone is at in terms of speed and execution, because pit stops are important in Kansas.

“It’s one of those places where I think it’s going to be really important for the future of the playoffs and where you get good spots. There’s just a lot of points you can score and you have a little more control over it than at Talladega. If you go out there and score top five points in both stages, you’ll be in really good shape.

“I feel like our group is really well prepared. We prepare better than anyone else on our team.

“I think it’s about everything starting to come together and going our way. A few little things here and there and it will add up and make a difference. So I feel good about where our group is and what opportunities we have. We have shown over the last 14 to 18 months that we could do everything we could to win races.

“I’m excited and feel like our team is ready to go.”