William Byron is in a good frame of mind before the start of the 2022 NASCAR season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver registered a victory at the Clyde Hart Memorial 100 for the Super Late Models at New Smyrna Speedway.
Byron is now ready for the challenges in the upcoming NASCAR season and exuded great confidence when he replied to spotter Branden Lines' tweet, writing:
“Back at you man. Ready for it.”
The 24-year-old driver decided to enter late on night 4 of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. Speaking at the Super Late Model Victory Lane after his win, he said:
“(Sommers) raced me great, I felt like he was a little quicker and doing a better job throughout that middle portion of the race. He gave me a little shot into one, but overall, it was really fun.”
Although he expects to return to the Super Late Model at least seven more times in 2022, Byron will now be shifting his focus to the Daytona 500 to be held in a week. Activities for the Great American Race start on Tuesday night.
William Byron's strong late restart helped his Clyde Hart Memorial Super Late Model 100 victory
William Byron gave himself time to get in front of the field after starting fifth in the race. He went into second four laps past halfway, and finally engaged with Gabe Sommers with just 30 laps left. When Jackson Bonne crashed on Lap 71, Byron lined up outside Sommers on the restart, leading to the best duel for position the division had seen this week.
Byron got a solid restart, but Sommers refused to step down. While the former was leading the way out of the corner, the latter was driving deep into each one of the four straight laps, touching the left-side door of Byron’s car #24 each time. Eventually, he was able to clear Sommers with 25 laps left.
Sommers, however, did not give up. He stayed with Byron and seemed faster than him in the last 10 laps. With only three laps to go, a warning was issued with the Austin Thom crash.
Once again Byron went outside, putting Sommers inside. Both drivers turned their tires hard on the restart. Nevertheless, Byron managed to clear Sommers and hold on to take the victory.
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