CHARLOTTE, N.C. – William Byron has no issues entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs under the radar. In fact, it suits him just fine.
"That’s just my personality," Byron said during the playoff media day. "I don’t really like to be flashy or do anything that’s going to draw attention. I love racing cars. I’ve absolutely loved it since I was a little kid. This is what I want to do.
"These are the situations that you want to be in, so it’s nice to come in here. Being here for the fourth time in a row is great and hopefully we can make that next step."
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Byron started off the 2022 season in a big way – winning two of the first eight races this season (at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway). He was the first driver to earn two victories in the Next Gen era. In early May, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native signed a three-year contract extension that keeps him in the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the 2025 season.
Since then, it’s been a tough close to the regular season as different things have derailed promising runs. Contact with two laps to go at Darlington Raceway in the spring took him from the lead to a 13th-place finish. While leading at Kansas Speedway, he cut a tire and eventually finished 16th. A crash in the Atlanta summer race ended a day where he led the second-most laps. A pit road penalty at Pocono Raceway after running in the top five saw him finish 12th. After running in the top five nearly all day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, an accident on a late restart saw him finish 31st.
"We definitely haven’t had the results to show the speed and performance that we’ve had," Byron said. "I think our team is capable of doing what we need to do. It’s just been a rough period of time, I feel like, to put races together for us."
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The 24-year-old driver enters the postseason as the fifth seed with 2,014 points. He has qualified for the playoffs in each of the last four seasons – reaching the Round of 12 twice (in 2019 and 2021).
Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle are in their second season together at the Cup Series level. The two previously worked together in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2016. He credits the Livonia, New York, native’s leadership for providing a steady hand.
"I think the team is in a really good space," Byron said. "Rudy is very strong minded. He has the football coach mentality when it comes to the playoffs. He’s really good at gathering all the troops and getting us all ready to go. I’m included in that mix and he’s got me fired up. I’m ready to go. I believe in my team. I believe every person on our team is capable. It’s just a matter of extracting that and I think this year could be the year."
Byron, Fugle and the No. 24 team will kick off the 10-race playoffs at Darlington on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).