Hendrick Motorsports star William Byron reveals the seat pour process makes him most nervous 

Ahead of the Shriners Children's 500 race at Phoenix Raceway on March 10, 2025, Hendrick Motorsports star William Byron recently revealed what makes him the most nervous.

Byron finished second at the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series wherein this year's COTA winner Christopher Bell beat the No. 24 racer and Tyler Reddick in the nail-biting final 10 laps. Expressing his feelings over the close finish at COTA, the Hendrick Motorsports racer took to Instagram writing:

"Ohhh 🙃 almost had another W. 2nd. Let’s keep stacking these good weeks!!"

Moreover, sharing a glimpse of the moment that made him tense, Byron tweeted on March 5, 2025:

"Nothing makes me more nervous than today. Seat pour"

A seat pour refers to a foam insert which fills the gaps between a racer's body and the racing seat. It is a means to improve comfort and safety, given that it serves features like absorbing the impact during a race and is self-extinguishing in case of fire.

The process that William Byron claims makes him most nervous involves a driver sitting in a seat bag while a liquid foam-like chemical pours in to adjust to the driver's body shape. The driver can adjust their position as the foam fills the seat bag resulting in a customised fit suiting one's driving stance.

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"Just sucks to be so damn close, right?": William Byron makes his feelings known on COTA race battle during final laps

The final laps of the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix witnessed a late-race battle between Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and William Byron wherein Bell raced ahead of Busch on Lap 90 owing to better tires. This eventually led to Bell securing first position with William Byron acquiring second place and Tyler Reddick coming third.

In a post-race interview, the two-time Daytona 500 champion acknowledged that he was close to Bell, however, he felt like the race battle between Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell was hovering, "waiting for one of them to bobble or slide their tires". Commenting on his failed strategy to surpass Bell, William Byron said (via NASCAR):

"I felt like once he got clear, his car was super loose, and it kind of gave me a couple of shots at him, and I just couldn’t ever get beside him."

However, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports racer admitted he didn't want to move Christopher Bell blatantly, given the two have raced well together and share an amicable on-track relationship. Expressing his discontent with not winning the race despite being a close contender, Byron said:

“Just sliding around a ton at the end... So just sucks to be so damn close, right? You can be on the bumper of the guy coming to the line, and that sucks. A lot of races ahead, and hopefully we can just keep bringing the speed.”

In other news, William Byron will divide driving duties of Spire Motorsports' No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado sponsored by HendrickCars.com with Kyle Larson for three starts of the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.