Avondale, Ariz.: William Byron’s best wasn’t good enough to stop the Penske Express at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.
In his second consecutive Championship 4 appearance, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet finished third among the title contenders.
But while Byron had a competitive ride in 2023, neither he nor the other 37 racers were fast enough to keep up with second-place Ryan Blaney or race winner and eventual champion Joey Logano.
“Our No. 24 Axalta Chevy team worked really hard all day,” said Byron after his third-place finish. “I feel like we maximized the most of what we had. We just didn’t quite have enough. Those guys were just faster than us. We would have a short, little surge there in the middle part of the run, and then they would start to drive away on the short and long runs.
“We just didn’t have enough, but I’m really, really proud of our team. We fought hard. It was a great strategy there in the final stage to do something different, but we just didn’t have enough.”
Byron qualified eighth and finished fourth in both stages. He was running fourth on Lap 236 when Logano’s crew chief Paul Wolfe summoned the No. 22 Penske Ford to the pits. Christopher Bell, who was leading at the time, followed suit for what was expected to be the final stop. Blaney inherited the lead with Byron in tow then pitted on the next lap.
But Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle refused to take the bait. With 75 laps remaining in the Cup Series Championship, Fugle believed it was too early to pit. He elected to leave the No. 24 Chevrolet on the track. Byron stayed on the track and led 11 laps. He pitted from the lead on Lap 247.
“We were obviously behind them on the track,” Byron said. “They stopped really early and we had to try something different. Our long-run speed wasn’t great. Our short-run speed wasn’t great (laughs). We could just hang with them. So, maybe if we could get out in front of them we could hold them off.”
Byron cycled out to seventh just as Zane Smith spun in Turn 1. Fugle told his driver to save tires as the top six drivers ahead of Byron came to the pits. Although Byron inherited the lead—it was short-lived.
“Going into the restart, I thought I had enough of a buffer and I didn’t really feel like one lap on tires that was that big a deal,” Byron said. “I don’t really think it was. I just think that they were fast on the short run all weekend, and that was kind of our struggle. Like we were decent throughout the run, but couldn’t really take off with a ton of speed.
“It wasn’t a huge surprise, but they were on me a little bit quicker than I thought they would be.”
Logano executed a masterful restart and vaulted from fifth to the lead on Lap 259. Byron maintained second until Blaney caught him. Despite a valiant effort from Byron, Blaney passed the No. 24 with 22 laps remaining in the race.
“I gave it everything I had,” Byron said. “I tried to race hard, but fair, which I always do. I feel like I’m one of the cleaner ones out there.”
While Byron started his 2024 campaign strong by winning the Daytona 500 and two of the next seven races, the No. 24 Hendrick team pointed its way through the Playoffs with consistent runs but not victories.
Although he was the fastest of the Chevrolets at Phoenix, getting beat two years in a row by Team Penske is a hard pill to swallow.
“It’s not what we wanted but I’m really proud of the effort,” Byron said. “It’s bittersweet, right? We did everything we could do. I wish we had won, we just didn’t have enough. We know what we need to work on for next year. We need to work on these style of tracks—myself included—figure out what we need to be better.
“But overall, proud of my team. We gave it everything. Even from the strategy side we threw everything at it, and that’s something to be proud of.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
