In a sport as fast-paced as NASCAR, you are bound to feel pressure when you are driving at the topmost level. However, Rick Hendrick‘s Daytona 500-winning star William Byron took it a little too far. Byron regrets the way he started his NASCAR career and raises important issues about the type of pressure that NASCAR drivers often face when performing in the biggest stock car racing series.

William Byron singles out biggest regret of his career

For many drivers, career regrets are related to them being unable to join a specific team. Sometimes, it is also about them not securing a title or a victory. But in William Byron‘s case, it is as simple as overexerting himself under pressure.

“I wish I had just been more patient with myself in terms of the judgment I put on myself to perform. When I was really young, I put so much pressure on myself once I got into the NASCAR ranks.”

Byron believes that in his first few years in the sport, it was much more enjoyable. Hence, there was no need for him to make things difficult for himself by adding unnecessary weight.

“I never thought I was going to be a NASCAR driver. When I started to get with teams and big organizations, I put a lot of judgment and pressure on myself each time on the racetrack, and I just think that creates a lot of stress and anxiety.”

Byron’s raw admission makes it clear that at one point he was highly anxious about his future. Mental health is something that many NASCAR drivers tend to struggle with. Take Noah Gragson, for example. He has been facing a tough time in the Cup Series for a long time.

But things can be especially tough for the newcomers in the sport. During their initial years, rookie drivers are prone to trapping themselves in a negative loop where they lose points and performance and berate themselves constantly.

In Byron’s eyes the issue lies with the way the sport is marketed. There is not a lot of process before the young drivers find themselves involved in the big leagues. He thinks that the rookies are always expected to somehow find their way out of the situation without any prior knowledge or guidance.

“It’s a little bit more like the draft in the NFL. You get kind of placed with a team or a driver that was already not succeeding, not working out, and you’re just tasked with, ‘Hey, you’re the new guy, you’re fast, so figure it out,’ and you have no people skills.”

Since then, Byron has taken many positive steps to improve himself and manage his anxiety better. This includes the way he handles bad race weekends, not letting them get to his head anymore.

“I’d use (Phoenix) as an example. We didn’t have a lot of speed, and we were kind of struggling for some answers, but we had a good finish, so that helped. Honestly, that Sunday night, I was so ready to get back to the shop and just be like, ‘Hey, let’s talk about it. Let’s go dive into it.’

“So it can go one of two ways. If you have a few bad weeks in a row, it gets very tough to still have those dialogues. But one bad week and a bad finish or whatever, sometimes you’re excited to talk about it.”

A very similar situation is currently going on with one of the most hyped drivers prior to the start of the 2026 season.

HMS’ Connor Zilisch faces the stern realities of NASCAR

Before he started his Cup Series season in 2026, almost everyone was looking at Zilisch like he was the golden boy. Comparisons were being drawn to him, against the likes of Jeff Gordon and whatnot. Now five races in, he is sitting at the bottom of the Cup Series standings in P35.

Call it bad luck, call it other drivers’ fault, or call it his own mistakes, but so far Zilisch has not shown his mettle in the Cup Series. Las Vegas was yet another disappointment for him last Sunday.

“Yeah, it was a tough day. We never could fire off great. I feel like we were pretty good in the long run, and we could gain ground. And then any restart, we’d just fall back and lose all the ground we made up. So, yeah, definitely not the best day ever, and then I don’t know what happened.”

It is partly Trackhouse Racing‘s fault too. After all, they seem to have forgotten how to build fast cars. But nevertheless, Zilisch’s own races are not doing justice to his talent either.

Only time will tell if the bad finishes and the subsequent pressure are going to ruin Zilisch or turn him into an amazing driver after the rigorous training while trying to make his way up front from behind the pack.