NASCAR CUP SERIES: VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD

August 15, 2021

William Byron

Press Conference

An Interview with:

Q. They just dragged that part away with the tractor, which I'm sure you're happy to be rid of that. Did you have any indication, like laps earlier, did you hit that and was it funny at all?

WILLIAM BYRON: No, no. So it was so weird, like I've never had that experience. It basically felt like I hit a wall. I come through that corner the same every single lap, and we were running fourth there behind Larson, and he gets over the curb in the exact same spot, and something like after he hit it with his right rear, it like peeled up, and as soon as I got there, I hit something, and it just threw me completely off line.

Tore the front end right off of it. Yeah, I wasn't off line at all. I was actually safe because I saw what happened to him, and it looked like he jumped in the air with his right rear, so I was like, man, let me try to get a little further left, and obviously I just nailed something that came up off the track.

Just a bummer. The AXALTA Chevrolet was really fast. We weren't as fast as the 5 car but I think we were a second-place car. Made a couple mistakes early that cost me some track position that we got back, and I think we were poised to finish top 5 there. Definitely a bummer.

Q. It seems like overall the course was solid. Was that the only place on the course where it was kind of questionable today?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, so Rudy had been talking to me about hey, that curb, they've been working on it and I see they've been working on it. That first white patch is what they've been working on. So as soon as I saw Larson go through there and hit it, I think instinctually I kind of got further left, thinking, okay, that's going to be better. But I think all the screws or however it was positioned came up, and I hit it square. I think we would have been fine if the front end wasn't destroyed.