NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 10, 2021

William Byron

Press Conference

Daytona International Speedway

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by William Byron. We will open it up for questions.

Q. William, a big advantage of having teammates on the front row is to potentially control the front of the pack and the race as it gets rolling. How confident are you that you and Alex can do that as the race starts and keep doing that?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I think for us, we've started up there together before, so I feel like for us, we can rely on that experience, especially being teammates with Alex for the last three years, I guess. It's really been comfortable to work with him.

I feel like that's the goal, is to stay up there and contend and lead a bunch of laps and control the lanes. That's our goal first and foremost. But you've got to get to the end, as well. And if you get yourself in tough positions, you just have to realize that it's better to try to rally back at the end of the race and not tear something up. That's kind of what I've learned.

And it can kind of go in waves as the race goes on. And sometimes you're up front and sometimes you're kind of mired in traffic, so you just have to take it how it comes to you.

Q. I would say Daytona and Talladega are the two late races last year you won, and Talladega where you were in contention were probably your best plate races. You seemed more confident in the moves you were making, a little bit more aggressive. Did something just click or were you more confident? Was it the spotter? Seemed like something was different last year with your superspeedway moves.

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think it just takes time. I feel like the first couple years in Cup I was able to lead laps at certain times of the race on speedways but never towards the end and never in the right timing of the race.

I feel like now the moves that I'm making are a little bit more -- I know kind of how to make those moves at the right time, and things have just worked out better for us in those last couple races.

Yeah, I think there's definitely more confidence, and some of it comes with just knowing your car and knowing some of the things that you can and can't do. And I feel like the last two races, like you said, Talladega was really close to a win, and Daytona, obviously. I feel like we can build on those for sure.

Q. I just wanted to ask you if this was kind of what you expected of your team for you and Alex to be this fast. It wasn't necessarily like that in practice, but you guys really seem to bring it when you have to. And were you surprised at how fast he was?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I feel like it's always -- Hendrick always gives us great cars to come down here and qualify well and also race well, so you never know which guys are going to have the speed out of the four of us.

To see how we approached the weeks leading up to this race and how we were really determined to go out there and start off strong with obviously the Clash last night, finishing fifth was great for us, good solid start, but our goal today was to go out there and try to qualify on the front row.

It's nice to be able to kind of check that off. And great to see both Alex and I - the 48 team and the 24 team - both up there.

Q. Some guys never know the feeling of starting on the front row for the Daytona 500. You've had that experience before. What's it like? I know with not as many fans in the stands there's not as much electricity this year as in the past. But what's it like to be able to lead the field beyond the front row for the Daytona 500, coming to the green flag in NASCAR's biggest race?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, first and foremost this year we've got to get to that point first. I think there's a lot of boxes you still have to check to get to starting there. You've got to get through the Duels. You've got to get through practice.

That's TBD, but I think that in the past it's been great to start up front. It's been a really cool feeling. I'd say there's nothing like the experience I had in 2019 when I started on the front row. And having all those fans here was just amazing. I mean, I was pretty speechless and a little bit nervous.

I think this year will be similar. Obviously less fans but still fans, and it's going to be fun to have them here. It was fun to have them here the last Daytona race, too, so that was definitely noticeable.

Q. Is there a little bit more extra nerves than if you were starting on the front row of another race at another place?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, yes and no. I feel like there's certain tracks that you go in the first corner, you don't really know what to expect. You go to some of these road course tracks and we've seen how hard it is just to make the first corner because you're leading and you don't have really a reference.

I mean, it's probably harder at some of those road courses than here, but I think quickly the pace and the intensity kind of ramps up after the first lap here, so you've got to be ready for that.

Q. Do you have any ideas why Alex was a full second faster than you?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if he was a full second, but I think he was like three/tenths, which is a lot. Yeah, it was fast, though. Greg is over here, he's got all the secrets. I don't know. I don't build the car. But they certainly did a heck of a job.

Q. I'm sorry, I meant a mile per hour faster.

WILLIAM BYRON: Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a lot.

Q. It seems like the last several years you guys have come down here, Hendrick, with the speed in the cars to put yourselves in contention to win in race, but it's been since 2014 when a Hendrick driver has done it. How badly do you guys want to be able to kind of complete the deal and put one of these cars in victory lane again?

WILLIAM BYRON: It would be huge. I mean, we've won other events here, and it would be huge, though, to win the Daytona 500 for any of the four of us.

I feel like even more so this year there's a concentrated effort on that and making sure we're helping each other and we've just gotten better and better at that over the year.

The dialogue has continued to be open, and I feel like we're going to continue to try to move that forward and try to get one of us in Victory Lane. It's definitely our goal this year.

Q. As you just mentioned, the longer that you've been at Hendrick and the longer that the four of you get the opportunity to work together, do you think that that'll translate into better opportunities to work together at plate races like Daytona?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was obvious last time it was that way with the 9 helping us at the end. Obviously you're going to take the run that you have and it's your job as leader to block and protect and make guys help you, but I think there's a concentrated effort for us to make sure we're pushing each other when we are able to.

You know, that was a big help the last race, and I think it's going to continue to be that way regardless of who is out front and kind of who's in control.

Q. Mr. H was in here on Monday and he was talking about getting excited to be back to the track and how fun it was going to be and watching everybody interacting. He talked about how big it would be to win this race. How big would it be, especially after the year we had, to have Mr. H back at the track and to pull a victory in the Daytona 500 with him there?

WILLIAM BYRON: It would be amazing. I think the coolest thing is hearing from him after wins and good results. And I feel like that'll be the same if one of us are able to win on Sunday. It's going to be a pretty amazing feeling.

We're getting closer and closer to that magic number for Hendrick, so I feel like all of our efforts to try to get as close as possible as soon as possible is important, so you want to be that guy that can mark off kind of a marquee race win.