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Hendrick Motorsports Declares War on Joe Gibbs Racing as the Battle for Regular Season Win Intensifies

Published 07/10/2023, 4:25 PM EDT

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NASCAR is inching toward the last legs of the regular season. Seven more races remain in the regular season before only the top-16 drivers make it to the Playoffs. The picture of the future course is finally becoming apparent, with each passing weekend. But before the drivers can make it to the post-season, eager eyes look forward to the winner of the regular season.

With the culmination of the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, there are only a handful of drivers who can claim victory in the first half of the season. And among these, there are two names that top the list for every NASCAR enthusiast. Moreover, with the culmination of the Quaker State 400, the competition between the two drivers has intensified.

After this past weekend’s race, it was none other than the race winner William Byron who revealed his biggest competitor in an interview.

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William Byron Reveals His Biggest Competitor After Winning the Race at Atlanta

There is no denying the fact that only a few drivers have put up a fight like William Byron has done throughout the season. With all the adversities thrown his way, the Hendrick Motorsports prodigy has made sure that emerges victorious in all the scenarios. This was evident on Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as he overcame all the obstacles to take the chequered for the fourth time in the season.

With a victory coming from Sunday’s race, Byron has become the biggest contender for victory in the regular season. While it was Kyle Busch who till very recently tied with Byron for the most wins this season, the HMS star is not afraid of the RCR spearhead. As the #24 driver told, his focus is on defeating someone else. 

In case you were unaware, it was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr who was leading the points table ahead of the race at Atlanta. A victory from the Hendrick Motorsports driver dethroned the Truex as the points leader. While this is enough for an all-out war to break out between the two teams, what Byron said post-race may have intrigued the fans a lot more. 

As things stand, William Byron stands 21 points ahead of Martin Truex Jr. But he reveals he is yet to let his guard down against JGR’s Truex Jr. He was asked by media personnel in the post-race interview, “I want to say you’re 21 points ahead of Truex now in the regular season. How much have you been looking at these points every week just to see about the regular season title?”

To this, the prodigy replied, “Yeah, I mean, we definitely look at it. There’s no doubt about it. I look at Racing Reference and look at all the top 5s, top 10s, all that stuff. I think Truex has been running really well. It’s just a matter of us performing well. I feel like if we can perform at a high level, we put ourselves in position to run up front and get stage points.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Amidst Playoff Concerns, Chase Elliott Dismisses The Idea of New Hendrick Motorsports Narrative  

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Byron Makes a 6-Word Admission as the Battle Between HMS and JGR Intensifies

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Neither the rain nor the shortened race distance could come into William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports’ way to claim the victory. The clever strategy call from the team to not pit Byron during a caution let the driver to win the race. This now pits the Chevy camp against the Toyota camp for the regular season championship. Seeing this, Byron made 6-word admission, in regards to the next few races.

Continuing on the same lines, Byron exclaimed, “Yeah, it’s a long — we’ve still got, what, six, seven races until the playoffs, and we’ve just got to keep inching up on it. We can’t have any major bad weeks. This looked like it was going to be a bad week, and we overcame it. It’s a good lesson to learn, but I think we’re coming up on two tough tracks that we’ve got to really hone in on with Pocono and Loudon.”

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“I know that the 19 is going to be fast there and all the JGR cars, so we’ve got to keep it up,” Byron affirmed.

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Written by:

Ayantika Maitra

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Ayantika Maitra is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. It was initially Formula 1 that made her fall in love with the world of motorsports. But quickly, the raw and unfiltered nature of NASCAR is what led her to build an affinity for the Stock Car Racing Series.
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Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh