William Byron Finishes Third, Has Significantly Improved At Passing
3 months agoDespite all of William Byron's recent strengths, one of his weaknesses has been passing on long runs. Although he is usually electrifying on short runs, particularly late in races, he often struggled to dominate entire stints last year, and in 2023's Coca-Cola 600, he had a dismal 2-7 lead change record as he kept retaking the lead in the pits due to having the first pit stall before losing it on track (usually to Ryan Blaney). However, this year, Byron leads the Cup Series with an overall 10-5 lead change record and he was 4-2 in this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, as he passed Ty Gibbs twice en route to winning Stage 1, then passed Chase Elliott and swapped the lead with Christopher Bell twice before ultimately losing to Bell in the end. Despite fading to third, it's very promising that Byron has turned one of his weaknesses from last year into a strength.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference