William Byron raises eyebrows with his ‘overwhelming’ admission after defying the majority before Phoenix

William Byron grabbed the pole position on Saturday for the Shriners Children’s 500 NCS race at Phoenix Raceway. However, he did so with a strategy different from that of the rest of the field. While most drivers took to qualifying with the Prime tires, Byron was on the alternate strategy, using the Option tires. When asked afterwards about the strategy for the race on Sunday, the HMS driver admitted that he likes to stay removed from the strategy bit as it overwhelms his brain.

William Byron posted a qualifying lap time of 26.930 seconds with a top speed of 133.68 mph. He was the only driver to drop into the 26-second mark with almost a tenth ahead of Joey Logano in second. While the option tires offer a lot more grip compared to the primes, they fall off pretty quickly as well.

For this weekend, the teams were given two prime tires, one each for practice and qualifying. They also received seven prime tires for the race (6 new sets plus 1 scrubbed set from qualifying). On the other hand, the teams only had three option tires available, one for practice and two for the race. After qualifying, Byron seemed pretty happy with how the option tires ran and was confident knowing when he would use them on Sunday.

However, when asked if being on pole position would dictate what strategy he will use on Sunday, Byron simply said that he doesn't know too much about the strategy and he tries to distance himself from getting too involved in it as well.

"Yeah, maybe. I wish I knew a little bit more about the strategy. I try to stay a little bit removed just because I feel like it overwhelms my brain. So, just honestly for me, I think when we're up front, we're just going to probably do the same thing that the other guys in the top-five that we're racing with," William Byron said (via SpeedwayDigest).

The HMS driver will lead the field to green on Sunday at 3:30 pm ET.

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What did William Byron say after using the option tires in qualifying

NASCAR: William Byron at the DAYTONA 500 - Source: Imagn

With just two sets available for the race, teams usually try to hold on to the option tires for Sunday as they play a crucial part in the strategy. However, William Byron and his #24 team were confident about using them both in practice and qualifying, possibly leaving them with one less for the race compared to others.

When asked to share his thoughts on the performance of the option tires, the 27-year-old noted (via SpeedwayDigest):

"Honestly, I thought the tire was great. You know, I think it fell off some with heat and just kind of starting to slide around. But I felt like the tire felt good as soon as we bolted it on... The progression throughout the run was exactly what you would want to see. So, I just had more grip, and then I felt personally like our car was pretty good on that tire."

However, he also acknowledged that the team has a bit of work to do with the prime tires.

"We have a little bit of work to do on the yellow, but I don't see any problems with the red. I think that it's going to put on and promote a good race and probably a lot of variation between the tires," William Byron added.

This pole position for Byron means that this is the first time a Chevrolet will lead the field to green in the 2025 Cup Series season.