William Byron Supporter Dismisses NASCAR Insider’s Dig at HMS Star’s “Personality” – “We Need More Watermelon Smashing”

Celebration is a big part of what winning is about. NASCAR fans have seen many jubilant winners in the victory lane, doing a number of celebrations. The latest viral celebration would be Melon Man Ross Chastain. His victory celebration at Nashville was a display of tradition and trademark. Another driver joining the popular celebration club is Atlanta winner, William Byron, who may have just given fans something to talk about.

A celebration can be considered an expression of one’s efforts paying off. The feeling of coming out victorious on an adrenaline-filled, grueling race day can be indeed quite dopamine-inducing. Host, reporter, and producer for NASCAR Jessie Punch has been in and around tracks for quite a long time to have seen enough celebrations and it seems she has her own take, especially on Byron’s.

Jessie Punch Affirms Her Support for William Byron

The popular NASCAR talk show Rubbin Is Racing has been a discussion forum about such stuff for quite some time now. The hosts, Spider and Large, discuss the issues in the community alongside a guest who happens to be Punch in this case.

Coming to the topic of driver celebrations at the victory lane, Large has a peculiar direction pointing out Byron’s big trucker hat celebration, which has been seen previously after his win at Phoenix.

“Speaking of trophies and Winner’s Circle… the stuff we just saw, William Byron get his fourth win of the season. Is that big hat bullsh** overdone? Or do you think it’s still something they should be [doing]? I’ve got gimmicks that I use: the wine glass on the head, I’ve done probably way too many times. I’m starting to get a little sick of the big hats. How do you feel about it?” asked the NASCAR Insider.

Punch, daughter of the iconic motorsports reporter Dr Jerry Punch, strongly supports drivers’ creativity in their celebrations. In her opinion, these add a new element to racing.

“I’m starting to get a little sick of the big hats but here’s the thing I hesitate to say that though because to me, the big hat equals their attempted personality, right? And I don’t mean that in a negative way, I think that we could probably highlight William’s personality in a better way.”

“I think the big hats are very much overdone, but I don’t want this idea of victory lane celebration themes to go away.”

“Because that’s something that has gone on in our sport for so long.”

Showing her affinity for the Melon Man celebration, she added, “And wearing a big hat doesn’t equate to smashing a watermelon. I think we need more of that, you know. We need more backflips off of race cars like we used to see from Carl Edwards. We need more watermelon smashing, lesser big hats but still more personality eventually. That’s my opinion.”

Surely you must be aware of Chastain’s iconic race-winning celebration. But in case you want to watch it again, here it is.

Well, after a nail-biting finish, the least a driver could do is convey his happiness to the world.

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The story behind the NOGGIN Boss celebration

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The NOGGIN Boss or the oversized trucker hat that Byron celebrates with was seen twice this season. In Byron’s words, he took the inspiration for Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen.

“I saw Josh Allen was wearing it in his postgame presser on Thursday Night Football and was like, ‘Man, that’s kind of goofy, funny and cool. I might have seen it another time, but I don’t remember where. But with Josh in that was the first time I was like, this would be a really fun idea to do for a win,” Byron said back in April, as per RACER.

The company has also found itself in an agreement with the winningest team in Cup Series history, Hendrick Motorsports. Byron was one of the propagators of the big hat celebratory fashion, but according to him, they can only use it for wins.

“So, if we don’t win, it sucks. If we win, we’ll get to use them. That was my rule. I hoped it would happen at the Clash; that would have been ideal. Or Daytona. Then Noah [Gragson] wore one of the grid at Daytona and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is throwing a wrench in my plans.’ But we still did it and it was memorable.”

The 25-year-old has also had his own views about the popular celebration. Recalling the instances at Phoenix and Las Vegas, he said, “It was fun, I thought when we got out of the car at Vegas with it on, it was pretty goofy. I thought, ‘Man, I feel like a ham.’ But that was good. It’s good to make fun of yourself sometimes. I think Rudy [Fugle] was up in the air on it, but by Phoenix, he came around when he saw it again.”

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