$1,000,000,000-worth Rick Hendrick-owned HMS driver sends mixed signals about his confidence in Martinsville

HMS driver William Byron shared a glimpse of his mentality ahead of Sunday’s (March 30) race at Martinsville Speedway. Byron kicked off the current season by winning the annual Daytona 500 for the second straight year. Now, he is vying for his second win of the season.

Byron shared his feelings regarding his upcoming race at Martinsville. He said (via Speedway Digest):

"I'm confident but also not extremely confident. We've had some good runs and we've also had some just OK runs. We have some work to do from Bowman Gray (Stadium) on our short-track package but I think we'll still be in a good place. It's really about having a good long run car and that's what we will really focus on."

Byron is in his eighth full season driving the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports, owned by $1 billion-worth automotive tycoon Rick Hendrick (as per Celebrity Net Worth). To this day, the Charlotte native has 14 career triumphs in the NASCAR Cup Series.

He has won twice at Martinsville, with his most recent victory coming on April 8, 2024. He boasts three top-fives and three top-10s as well. As of today, Byron sits at the top of the drivers' standings with 244 points to his name.

Byron is the second Hendrick Motorsports driver to make the postseason this year. His teammate and former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson won last week’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway and got locked directly into the playoffs.

HMS vice chairman Jeff Gordon opens up on star driver’s 2025 struggles

Driver of the No. 9 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott, is one of the top-six drivers on the standings. However, it’s been quite a long time since he has won a points-paying race in the series.

Although Elliott did win this year’s running of the season-opening Clash at the historic Bowman Gray Stadium, that was an exhibition-style event, which means it did not qualify him for the playoffs. He has been able to pick one top-five and three top-10s so far.

Jeff Gordon, a former championship-winning driver at HMS and the current vice chairman of the organization, said of Elliott (via Motorsports Wire):

“I feel like they came into the season with a lot of momentum as well and started strong, meaning just you could just sense that they’ve got a lot of confidence and coming to the racetrack ready to go. I think the last couple of weeks probably were a little bit frustrating for them.”

Winning and losing are different sides of the same coin, and Gordon, a 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, knows that.

"They’re a really solid team. Just a lot of depth and a lot of belief in one another. You know, you’ve got to get through the rocky times,” he added.

Next up for the drivers is the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. The 400-lap race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 from 3 pm ET onwards, with live radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.