"We’ve always had speed there" - William Byron looking forward to NASCAR Texas race this weekend

Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron finished in P3 in last weekend's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, sealing his seat in the playoffs Round of 12. Now with the first of three races before the NASCAR Cup Series advances to Round of 8, Byron looks to cement his position as he sits six points above the cutoff line.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-native is somewhat of a master of 1.5-mile-long tracks, as the sport heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 is set to be the first race out of three in the Round of 12, with William Byron confident heading into the 500-mile-long race. From the start of 2021 through the 2022 season so far, Byron has two wins, one runner-up finish, five top-5s, and ten top-10s on 1.5-mile tracks. Needless to say, the 24-year-old thrives on tracks such as Texas.

Heading into the weekend, the #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver spoke to the media about his expectations in the 500-mile-long race, saying:

“I’m interested to see how racing at Texas (Motor Speedway) goes this weekend. We’ve always had speed there, but I think in the spring we just were a little off on our setup since it was the first time at Texas in the Next Gen car."

William Byron also emphasized the execution of the weekend, as are most playoff contenders at this stage of the 2022 season, and said:

"As long as we have a good Saturday, I think we’ll be in a good place for the race and then it’s all about execution on Sunday.”

AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 goes live from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday at 3:30 pm ET.

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William Byron's crew chief's expectations going into NASCAR 2022: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500

Rudy Fugle, the crew chief of the #24 team at Hendrick Motorsports, spoke about what his expectations were from his driver William Byron in the 500-mile-long race at the Fort Worth, Texas track. Fugle believes the team learned a significant amount from running at Kansas Speedway, and said:

“I think we have some good notes heading into this weekend’s race at Texas (Motor Speedway). We learned a lot from Kansas (Speedway) a couple weeks ago, and with us using the same tire as we did for that race, a good portion of those notes should translate. The biggest difference is going to be how much hotter it is and where the resin is applied on the track."

Based on Fugle's analysis, track and ambient temperatures at the venue could make a huge difference come raceday. It remains to be seen how William Byron and the #24 crew perform this Sunday.