Folks, we have pretty much seen every kind of race track this season till now. Be it a super-short track at BGS, COTA (road course), Atlanta, Daytona (Superspeedways), one miler (Phoenix), and now even an intermediate. The recent Las Vegas race. And so far all the racing products have seemed good, especially the race at Sin City. And the credit for that has to be given to Goodyear. Recently, even William Byron opened up on this. He was asked if the wear should be more on intermediate tracks…to which, Byron had an interesting response.

And if you don’t know, NASCAR and Goodyear have nailed the tire combination for Vegas. The right side tire is the same as last year’s Las Vegas races, left side tire is softer for more wear. The combined tire package is the same that NASCAR ran at Charlotte, Darlington, and Homestead Miami last season. If you remember the Homestead race, Tyler Reddick drove all the way from the back to take the checkered flag. That was thanks to the wear, that enabled passing. There were 33 lead changes amongst 11 drivers. And Vegas this season played out something similar, leaving the HMS driver impressed.

If you saw the race, you know Daniel Suarez looked poised to win. But in the end, Josh Berry, with a better tire strategy, passed the Trackhouse Racing driver, giving Wood Brothers Racing their 101st win! But we are not discussing WBR, we are talking about the intermediate product and it seems pretty sorted in 2025. 32 lead changes were recorded in the Vegas race. And that’s commendable. But still, there were questions if NASCAR could further better it to increase wear. Because the more the better right?

In a recent interview, William Byron said, “Think the tire on the intermediate falls off pretty good. Sure it can fall off more. But we are kind of at the limit of blowing tires or courting tires. And honestly, the tires at Vegas were going down to the court if your balance was off. Some guys blew tires. Felt like the intermediate racing’s been really good. Honestly, I don’t think we need to touch it.”

And folks, we are talking about this because we have got back-to-back intermediate tracks on the schedule. Next up is the Homestead Miami Speedway and NASCAR is bringing the same tire as Vegas. This should be an interesting race. And while Byron is satisfied with the tires, he thinks temperature can play a big role in making the racing product even better. “I really think it’s just a weather thing. Trying to get just hotter. Races where it’s slicker. Got plenty of cautions on intermediates right now. Still plenty of racing going on,” Byron added.

And Byron has been pretty good a Vegas. He’s won it once (2023). And in the recent race, he finished in P4. In fact, Byron in the last five races has ended up with a top 10 finish. So we can take the #24 driver’s word for it when it comes to intermediates. Also, he’s been prepping. “The main purpose is the tire test. Just trying to work with a few different sets of tires. It’s a good chance for us to learn some stuff as a team. And we’ve been rolling to get a couple of small things and dial in our mile-and-half program. A little bit better to know what changes do what. So when we are at the racetrack we can make more effective changes. Have a little bit closer balance.”

Byron wasn’t alone in his assessment of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin spoke about the track extensively, and the change in grip levels. Although the No. 11 driver spoke about in terms of the qualifying and race difference, his point still stands. “In short, it’s a misread, but it’s just me trying to get better and faster on Saturdays, and what is happening is I’m compromising my Sundays for that. I think that’s generally speaking of what’s been going on. They’re both dramatically different; it’s not even close to the same track. Vegas, it just might be like we went to a new racetrack. And it’s the same every single Sunday for however many races. But you go there Saturday, it’s wide open, and I don’t know—it’s just not the same. The time, the rubber, the Cup cars lay the rubber down through the race. We usually practice on Saturday mornings. It’s cooler, it’s not as sunny.”

Regardless, for Byron, the priority will be getting the win at Miami.

Can William Byron win Homestead Miami?

Byron’s got a good start to the season. He has won the Daytona 500 twice in a row now. However, we don’t know if the #24 driver will count it. After all, he wasn’t supposed to win it. Denny Hamlin was leading when Cole Custer wrecked him and Byron got an opportunity to bag the checkered flag. He came close to winning the Circuit of the Americas, but Christopher Bell bested him and ended in P2. Las Vegas was a close one too. Byron led 10 laps but even finished in P2 behind Larson in stage 2.

And the Byron faction figured out the tire strategy pretty well. It was the fuel strategy that got them in trouble. After the race, Byron said, “Yeah, when everything got flipped with the fuel strategy – not really pit strategy, but you had to pit to make it to the end of the race. Everything just got flipped around and we were on the bad side of that, having to restart in the 20s and then have to drive back through the field. I thought we did a good job getting back through the field.”

Homestead will be similar to Vegas, giving Byron the opportunity to improve his performance. And the track has been kind to Byron in the past, especially in the next-gen era. Although he’s not won any race, he’s got an average finish of 7.3. So he will be a front-runner. And thanks to the tire wear, track position is not that crucial during qualifying. According to Goodyear, a lot is going to depend on tire strategy.

Recently, Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager of global race tires, said,  “We go to Homestead this week, which is a track that produces some of the best racing on the NASCAR circuit. Homestead has a high tire wear surface that leads to a couple factors that make for good racing. First, the high wear leads to more lap-time fall-off, meaning tire management comes into play and we see more ‘comers’ and ‘goers’ throughout the field over the course of a run. Teams will opt for four fresh Goodyear tires at nearly every pit stop, highlighting the critical role of pit crews.  This combination ensures a competitive race for the teams and an exciting experience for the fans.”

Do you think William Byron can win Homestead? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.