During the Honor Quiktrip 500 race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, William Byron did not have the best day in the office. The 22-year old hoped to achieve his first-career Atlanta Top-10 finish.

Unfortunately, his dreams got shattered in the early stages, courtesy a tire failure for the No 24 car. As a result, poor Byron clattered the outside wall. The contact put him well down the order and he finished 12 laps down to the leaders.

Willian Byron: Dominant Online, Out of his Depth on the Track

It is worth noting that Byron swept the competition in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. However, the real thing was a completely different story.

In the online arena, the Hendrick Motorsports driver dominated the first six races. William Byron led most of the way during those six races, but he missed the last one.

Apparently, NASCAR only managed to discover him through his prowess in iRacing. That allowed him to get behind the wheel of the famed Hendricks Motorsports #24 Chevrolet.

In spite of succeeding four-time champion Jeff Gordon in one of the most successful NASCAR teams Byron has yet to find victory lane. Obviously, iRacing does not hold a candle to the real thing, but drivers succeeded in real life rarely performed well in the virtual world.

In theory, drivers with tons of experience in iRacing, such as Byron should be able to hold their own in the real world. He came close to bagging his first win on several occasions, most recently at Martinsville Speedway.

However, nobody can deny that he is fast, with five pole positions last year as proof of his mettle. The 22-year old only came second to Kevin Harvick, and that sheer speed should carry over to a race win. Riding the confidence of dominating his fellow competitors in iRacing, now is the perfect time for it to happen.

Plus, Hendrick Motorsports have been fast all season. Byron’s three teammates all sits in the top five in the championship standings, and Alex Bowman won the race at Auto Club Speedway.