Among all the drivers that were picked as the favorites, William Byron was not the most popular name. Despite that, as of now, he leads the championship, and it is mainly because of his performance at Kansas. Sure, Byron lost the race to Ross Chastain, but being the leading playoff driver helped him secure the points that he needed. Although it was rather unexpected to see him lead the championship, other NASCAR critics are speaking praises of him.

At Kansas, Byron took over the lead battle once Kyle Busch spun out. It was just Ross Chastain and Byron going door to door to secure the victory. Unfortunately, the Hendrick Motorsports driver couldn’t overtake the ‘wall-rider’ and finished second. While this was not the result that Byron wanted, his efforts were noticed by a NASCAR veteran. With Kevin Harvick analyzing Byron’s performance at Kansas, let’s dive into what he had to say.

Kevin Harvick eats his own words about William Byron

The Hollywood Casino 400 was a hard contrast to the Bristol race and fans enjoyed the fight for the win. Unlike Bristol, Kansas had many close calls, leader battles, and pit stop dramas to keep the fans entertained. However, the one driver that was on top of Kevin Harvick’s list was Tyler Reddick. Sadly, Reddick had a rather poor race, finishing 25th. William Byron came to the rescue as he became the center of attention, especially considering the bold statement the former NASCAR driver made in the past.

Right after the Bristol Race, Kevin Harvick spoke about the situation HMS was in and predicted that William Byron would not make it beyond the top 12. Harvick took these words back on his latest episode post Kansas, as he revealed on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, “You know, I think for me, the guy that woke back up this weekend was William Byron.”

Harvick remembered what he said about William Byron the week before and said, “I picked him to be out of the playoffs based upon what I’ve seen since Indianapolis and in the first round of the playoffs. But those guys showed back up. And that’s really a guess for us sitting here.”

Supporting the team a little, Harvick said, “It’s really a guess because of the fact that you just never know when it’s going to click for any of these guys. They’re all good enough to do that. They’re all good enough to put the pieces back together. Right, and William Byron did that this week.” Overall, even an experienced NASCAR driver like Kevin Harvick cannot predict what will happen in the sport with just 1 race.

Although Byron has been in the safe zone, he now stands in a much better place in the playoff picture. If he had defeated Ross Chastain at Kansas, his move into the top 8 would have been confirmed. There are still 6 races remaining to decide who will be this year’s champion, and after the Kansas race, Byron has stepped into the competition with a strong foot.

Hendrick Motorsports is in the safe zone for the top 8

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Before the playoffs started, Rick Hendrick’s wife, Linda, made all 4 drivers from the team make a promise to her. As it is the team’s 40th anniversary, she asked all the drivers to make it into the top 4. Although this feat has never been achieved before, it looks like it might be possible this year.

William Byron is now leading the playoff charts and just last week, it was Kyle Larson. However, the No. 5 driver dropped to P4 after his disappointing 26th-place finish at Kansas. The other two drivers are not having a tough time either, as both of them are in the safe zone.

Alex Bowman is 6th on the charts, being +8 points ahead of the cut-off. The last teammate sits right behind Bowman, as Chase Elliott is 7th. These results will change after Talladega, and hopefully, for Linda Hendrick, they all make it to the next round.

Although the team is halfway through the playoffs, the real challenge begins now, and every point matters. Considering that, do you think that Hendrick Motorsports drivers can all make it into the top 4? Let us know what you think in the comments below.