The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series has been a story of two halves for William Byron and the No. 24 team so far. Starting strong with an iconic win at the Daytona 500, Byron went on to repeat this run at COTA and Martinsville. Not only did he ensure his qualification for the playoffs, but he sent out a statement across the Cup Series garage as a serious contender.

However, this honeymoon period didn’t last long for the HMS driver, as he wasn’t among the contenders to compete for the regular season championship. Owing to his fiery start to the year, Byron and his team had set out clear plans for the rest of the races. But those plans didn’t materialize on the racetrack. Given that the points will reset with the start of the playoffs in Atlanta, Byron is looking to turn a corner for good.

William Byron reflects on missed opportunities

Representing a powerhouse team like Hendrick Motorsports is a pressure in itself. The drivers here aren’t just competing with the rest of the grid but against their teammates as well. And it’s fair to say they are some of the best in the business. In Byron’s case, he is up against the likes of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, who led the pack for most of the season. Although they have reached the pinnacle of NASCAR racing, they are hungry for more.

William Byron finished 4th in points, while Larson missed out on the regular season title by a single point. But the big differentiating factor heading into the playoffs will be the bonus points. And this is where the #24 team took a huge hit, failing to capitalize on their strong start. In comparison, Larson had 10 stage wins to his name, despite missing the Coca-Cola 600 event.

Reflecting back on his regular season run, William Byron said, “We’ve been up and down a lot. So I feel like we’ve had some really good races where we’ve been upfront and things have gone well. Even this past weekend was a pretty good race for us. But yeah, we just been up and down. I think the goal since we won that third race was to try to stack a bunch of playoff points. We just didn’t really; we didn’t really do that.”

With this, Byron heads into the playoffs with 17 bonus points to his name. Now imagine if he had notched a win or two more with stage wins. He could’ve easily topped the charts. While he missed out on the golden opportunity edge ahead of his competition, knockout rounds will be like starting from a clean slate. And he is banking on his previous runs to pull off a big upset.

Speaking of his last season, William Byron earned a milestone win for Rick Hendrick, securing his spot in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR playoffs. “We’ve been steady through the first few races—no major fireworks—but today, we had a solid car if we could just get to the front,” Byron said. “By the end, we had real speed.”

Byron crossed the finish line 1.863 seconds ahead of Chastain, marking his sixth win of the season, the most in the Cup Series. He also maintained his points lead heading into the next round. So, maybe it is too early to underestimate No. 24, after all.

Do not count out Byron just yet

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Thanks to the format designed by NASCAR, the playoffs breathe new life into the drivers and the team that has struggled in the regular season. Making the playoffs hasn’t been a hurdle for William Byron or his team since 2020. He has consistently improved his performance at the business end of the season.

Byron pulled off six top-5 finishes in the final 10 playoff races last year, which included his win at Texas. He had a deep run, making it to the finale race in Phoenix, but Ryan Blaney outclassed him to clinch the title. It’s fair to say that the North Carolina native has a score to settle.

“We kind of missed that throughout the regular season, but at the same time we know that this part of the year is what really counts for us. Maybe not as much momentum as last year but more like 2022, and we had a great playoff run in 2022 as well,” Byron added.

It has to be noted that William Byron has victories at both Atlanta and Watkins Glens from last year. Interestingly, the first two races of the round of 16 kick off at these venues. So he does have things going his way in terms of history and statistics; all he needs to do is execute well.