Byron regains his confidence at Pocono

William Byron recaptured a familiar feeling on Sunday at Pocono Raceway. It was the first time in four months that Byron felt he could do what he needed to do with his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The result was a third-place finish. The first time Byron had finished inside the top five since Martinsville Speedway (March 29).

“It feels great,” Byron said. “It’s a good track for us, but that never really guarantees, and I felt like just from lap 1 in the Cup car all weekend, I was really comfortable and was able to just kind of control where I put my car and manipulate traffic. Yeah, really, really happy with this weekend.

“It feels like the first weekend in a while where we’ve had this ability and confidence in our car, and I would say it feels really good.”

Byron ran double-duty at Pocono and finished third in both races. In the Cup Series event, Byron averaged an eighth-place running position after qualifying ninth. He didn’t lead a lap, but could see the leaders at different points throughout the afternoon, and that includes the final stint in the final stage.

On the pit strategy that the team employed, Byron cycled out behind Denny Hamlin. The two were in position to be first and second when the cycle completed, but Christopher Bell ran long, and Tyler Reddick, who had short-pitted, was coming from behind on fresher tires.

Hamlin got away from Byron and took the win when Bell couldn’t stretch his fuel any longer. Reddick charged to second around Byron in the final few laps.

“I was definitely looking to try to catch him, but once I saw his car, my balance changed a little bit too much,” said Byron on keeping pace with Hamlin at the beginning of the run. “And how long we had to run on the tires, it seemed like the tires really gave up the last, I would say, 10 laps. The pace really went away in the tires. So, that’s where you saw Reddick able to charge at the end.

“We just had to run a hair too long on those tires, but those other guys kind of forced our hand with short pitting. A great call by Rudy [Fugle] and great decision making all weekend to continue to build, and just really happy with where we’re at.”

The confidence flowed from Byron all weekend. Even before getting on track for the first time on Saturday, he expressed the belief that the team was on the cusp of good things and it could start with Sunday’s race.

“We’re working our asses off back at the shop,” Byron said. “It’s really been that way since the break, and we haven’t seen the results yet. But I feel like now the puzzle pieces are starting to connect and starting to make sense. The balance of our car was great this weekend and gave us the ability to go out there and do what we needed to do.”