CONCORD, N.C. -- The NASCAR Cup Series is set to run the fifth race of the season on Sunday, and this weekend’s race will finish out the West Coast swing in California.
The driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, William Byron is looking for continued improvement in the upcoming race at Auto Club Speedway. The sophomore driver shared all of the unknown aspects of the Fontana, California, venue when it comes to the new aerodynamics package.
“I really don’t know what to expect,” the driver said. “I really think it’s going to be a crazy race. It’s probably going to be similar to Michigan when they had the aero package in the Xfinity cars. I think it’s going to be a lot of four- and five-wide racing at the beginning of runs. I think it’s probably going to string out still, but who knows?"
One exciting aspect heading into 2019 was how the young driver and experienced crew chief Chad Knaus would work together as a pair. With four points races under their belts together, Byron had nothing but praise for the process to this point.
“It’s been really good,” Byron said. “Chad and I have similar approaches to things, so, honestly, there have been really no huge issues. We haven’t run how we want to as of late yet, but we’re still a relatively young team and it’s only our fifth race together. It’s still kind of wait and see."
Byron has enjoyed his relationship with Knaus, noting that "we get along really well together," and now he's ready to take that combination all the way to Victory Lane. Byron explained Knaus has similar characteristics to him, and both are highly motivated to capture Byron’s first career Cup Series win.
“He’s a very competitive individual, obviously -- I feel like our personalities mesh relatively well," the driver said. "It’s early in the season, so we’ve got to work through and continue to progress and keep setting that bar a little bit higher. We’re in a decent spot in points. We’ve had some decent finishes. Daytona, we could have easily finished where we were running in the top five late in the race, so we just have to continue to kind of build on that.”
To see how the driver and crew chief continue to build, tune into the race at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.