Is it fair to say that William Byron is a genuine Cup Series title contender? Or will Kyle Larson or Chase Elliott be the perennial Hendrick Motorsports favorites to win? Byron’s 2024 campaign kicked off strongly enough, winning the Daytona 500 for the first time in his career. Later on, he would follow that up with wins at the Circuit of the Americas and Martinsville.

Since then, though, his win counter has dried up, and the best that he has finished is P2. It isn’t for a lack of trying, as William Byron has been super consistent, notching up four Top 5 finishes and three Top 10 finishes since his last victory. Points-wise, he is 5th in the championship and comfortably in the playoffs for the 2024 season.

However, the driver isn’t satisfied with his performances and feels that he can still do better. After the last race at Pocono, his desire to improve his form only grew stronger. It isn’t that he performed badly, as he finished fourth, behind Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and his own teammate, Alex Bowman.

As posted on Instagram, William Byron told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “It’s good; we still have some things to improve on, for sure. More so on the car’s side, but really happy with the performance. The start to finish looks really good on paper. Put together a good overall weekend, so just got to continue that and keep putting ourselves in these positions.”

The driver believes that if his mechanics can hit the car’s sweet spot, they could find another level of performance. According to him, he didn’t have much to change about his own driving style. However, Byron suggested that his #24 Hendrick Motorsports car could use a few tweaks to bring out the best in him.

Narrating how his race played out in Pocono, he said, “We got back there in Stage 3. It just felt like we didn’t have a good sequence there. We waited on fuel, and we had to restart towards the back. There was some confusion as to whether the #2 car had a penalty. We restarted a row back  and that was tough. Was kind of able to claw our way to 12th in that run. That’s really all we needed, We’re all kind of still in the hunt. Had a few things go our way in the last run. Just a very big strategy race, obviously we were able to maintain and put ourselves in the Top 5.”‘

Electing to restart in the high lane, Byron lined up 16th for the final stage. He managed to recover some lost track position, reaching 12th before a caution came out on lap 112. With Byron pleased with the Chevy’s handling, Fugle decided to take on two right-side tires and fill up with fuel. Restarting third with 40 laps to go, Byron endured four consecutive cautions, and with 23 laps remaining, Byron settled into fourth place and held that position until the checkered flag.

Looking ahead to the next few races before the playoffs, William Byron will be eager to get his season back on track. He is aware that many of his rivals are snapping at his heels and are eager to win the title. As a result, drivers like Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and more, will be massive threats.

In all, as he shared his concerns and areas of improvement for the No. 24 team, he was glad that he was able to salvage a Top 5 finish in Pocono. Next weekend, NASCAR heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the oval, after a few years of absence. Although William Byron has never won at the oval or on the road course, he would dearly love to add another feather to his cap.