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Part-time Xfinity Series driver William Byron has competed in three races so far this season. And out of those three races, the Hendrick Motorsports driver fell victim to flat tires in two. Talk about bad luck! The 26-year-old finished in 23rd place in Phoenix, and while Darlington brought a better result of P11, his progress was overshadowed by a frustrating flat tire. At Pocono, we saw him secure his season-best finish in the Xfinity Series. However, similar woes followed him. The #17 driver had to overcome a flat tire again to finish third.
In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, William Byron laid bare his feelings about this uncanny coincidence as he talked about his bad luck with tires in the Xfinity Series.
William Byron’s Xfinity Series tire dilemma is a head-scratcher
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The stage was set for William Byron to get his first Xfinity Series win of the season. Having already won three times in the Cup Series, the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished sixth in qualifying at Pocono, posting a time of 54.331 with a maximum speed of 165.651. Byron managed to climb two places at the end of Stage 1, finishing fourth, but a flat tire during Stage 2 dropped him outside the top 10 positions. However, the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro driver displayed a majestic performance in Stage 3, climbing up to third place and leading 16 laps.
William Byron was asked how he was able to bounce back after losing that tire by our NASCAR reporter. In response, he exclusively told Jordan Jenkins of EssentiallySports, “Yeah, I don’t know what that was, but it’s crazy man. I wasn’t thrilled about that. That was a huge bummer to have a flat tire. Two races in a row in the Xfinity Series. Just unfortunate stuff on the racetrack. Yeah, that was unfortunate but we will come back from that.”
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With NASCAR returning to Pocono Raceway for the Great American Getaway 400, William Byron will hope to shed his Xfinity Series bad luck behind him as he looks for his fourth win of the season in the Cup Series. Driving the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, Byron will start the race in Row 1 after finishing second in qualifying, just behind Ty Gibbs.
With tires being the talk of the town, especially after the wet weather package was used so successfully in New Hampshire, and dual tire compounds available at Richmond, William Byron’s tire dilemma is truly puzzling. However, the 26-year-old will just write it off as bad luck and will now shift his attention to the Cup Series, where he’ll hope to overturn his recent inconsistent performances.
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A clear frustration by the recent string of poor results
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Despite being all set to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team has been struggling to produce consistent top-10 results lately. Earlier in the season, Byron enjoyed an impressive streak of five back-to-back top-7 finishes, spanning from the Circuit of the Americas to Talladega Superspeedway. However, in the 10 races that have followed, the 26-year-old driver has only managed four top-10 finishes and four disappointing results of 23rd or worse.
Reflecting on another flat tire incident at Sonoma and inconsistent results, William Byron previously had said, “I mean we’re certainly trying really hard. I feel like we’re preparing harder than we ever have. You know, I think we’ve just been a bit across the board, all over the board, with results. But if you look at the speed that we’ve had, Sonoma comes to mind as a race where we had top-three or four-speed, but never really got to show that because we had a flat tire early and then got in that wreck with everyone in Turn 11.”
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Such has been Byron’s downturn in results that the driver has gone from being a viable candidate to win the regular-season championship and the coveted 15 playoff points to struggling to maintain his position in the standings. Currently sixth in the standings, Byron has six top-five and eleven top-ten results this season. However, with no wins in the last 11 races, the time to get results is now with just six races remaining until the playoffs begin.
Do you think William Byron has been unlucky in the NASCAR Xfinity Series? Let us know in the comments!
Debate
Byron's baffling Pocono repeat—Is he the next big thing in NASCAR or just a fluke?