William Byron has gone from being on the edge of elimination after being stripped of playoff points in a recent penalty to comfortably advancing in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 after the reversal of the same in a matter of one weekend. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who finished in P16 at the end of last Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Roval, did not have the best finishing position. As we have seen time and again, however, the sport's current playoffs format does not demand the same.
Many drivers were seen taking conservative approaches and clinching stage points rather than going for outright victories in the Round of 12 races, which meant they had a solid chance of advancing into further rounds. William Byron was one of the drivers who took this approach at the 2.66-mile-long road course in Concord, North Carolina. After finishing in P2 in the first stage behind Team Penske's Joey Logano, the 24-year-old elaborated on how managing restarts during the race was particularly difficult for him and said:
"Stage 1 was pretty good for us. We got second-place stage points, and try to go for the stage points in Stage 2, missed out. Just both times had to restart in the 30s. Really difficult to get through there and try to pace it with (Briscoe). Just try to keep all four tires on the ground and between the curbs at the end."
William Byron also elaborated on how the final stages of the 400-mile-long race ensued with chaos as drivers desperately tried to make their playoff aspirations into reality. He said:
"Certainly, just not how you want to race there at the end, but it was just crazy racing with the green-white-checkered and the way that guys are able to get into each other, make contact, guys spin out and the track gets blocked. It just gets wild there at the end."
Chase Briscoe reacts to William Byron getting his playoff points reinstated
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe, who sat on the cusp of making it into the Round of 8 before the Bank of America Roval 400, reacted to the news of William Byron receiving his playoff points back. The decision, which could ultimately make or break Briscoe's advancement aspirations, was not well received by him.
The 27-year-old elaborated on how he felt about the same recently and said:
"It's extremely frustrating. I respect the appeal process, I think it's something that we need but there is zero reason why we should ever run a race in the playoffs with an appeal."
Watch the complete interview below:
Watch William Byron race in the first Round of 8 race as NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend for the South Point 400.