“You don’t sleep very well” - NASCAR star William Byron delighted to ‘race freely’ after securing playoff berth 

With four victories this season, William Byron, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, is leading the NASCAR points board and is first in the standings.

William Byron has become the first driver to record two victories for the second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series season in March. He achieved it at Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But it wasn't an easy way to the top. Earlier this year, Hendrick Motorsports were slapped with a 100-point penalty due to a violation of their hooded louver with all four cars.

Without the penalty, Byron would have been in first place in the standings going into Sunday night's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He would have really been in first place in the rankings for a few weeks before this rain-shortened race.

Now that he is leading the standing and has secured a spot in the playoff, he stated that now is allowed to "race freely" in the upcoming races. In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR FM, he said:

"...I’ve lived it where you’re on the bubble of the playoffs and you don’t sleep very well. It's very tough. You are always thinking about race tracks and weaknesses or what's gonna happen next week. Is everything gonna go smooth, it's so tough. But luckily for us, we can kinda race freely."

After outscoring Martin Truex Jr. by 81 points on the racetrack in 19 races this season, he now effectively holds a 21-point lead over Truex. Byron will be able to reduce the consequences of this penalty in the long run if he can maintain his point advantage.

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Who is William Byron and which NASCAR team does he drive for?

William Byron is a professional NASCAR driving the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet full time. He also drives part-time in NASCAR Xfinity Series and part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

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How many wins does he have?

He has eight career wins under his name. His first NASCAR win was in August 2020 at Daytona Speedway. His most recent win was at the Atlanta MotorSpeedway last week. Byron is currently leading the 2023 points board.

As a rookie in 2017, Byron won four races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series en route to the series title. His seven wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2016 established a NASCAR record for a first-year driver. He also won the Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in April 2022.