Nothing beats the excitement of a back-to-back race win. William Byron is on track to do exactly that in the first prestigious race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule – the Daytona 500. After a feisty end to the 2025 season, fans are looking at Byron to kickstart the new year with a bang. However, the two-time Daytona 500 winner is not matching the excitement, a lack of enthusiasm that another NASCAR veteran shares.

William Byron holds a neutral view

“I mean, I never feel like I put too much pressure on it anyways. But always want to go down there and have a good showing and everything like that, but doesn’t change anything,” William Byron told journalist Bob Pockrass recently.

The hint of nonchalance in his voice is a tad surprising, considering the historic feat he might achieve. William Byron, after winning the Daytona 500 in 2024 and 2025, is looking forward to a three-peat. Although four other drivers have picked up back-to-back wins at the prestigious race – Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, and Denny Hamlin – none have made it to three.

Nevertheless, William Byron chimes with a reduced sentiment for the race. This matches the opinions of NASCAR veteran Mark Martin, who lamented over the Next-Gen car’s impact on the Daytona 500. When cars need to keep the horsepower around 400-500 hp instead of the 900 hp drivers used to reach decades ago, the race loses its impact. Martin instead upheld the Southern 500 over the Daytona 500 in importance.

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There seems to be a common feeling in the garage as well, as William Byron said, “I feel like other drivers don’t like—we just don’t really talk about stuff like that. But it’s more personal.” Also, the Harley J. Earl trophies that the Hendrick Motorsports driver already owns also do not generate much interest. “They’re in two different spots. Kind of have a nice place for them, so yeah. A lot of my trophies I just kind of put away uh where I don’t see them a lot.”

Nevertheless, William Byron is preparing for his attempt. “Just go down there and have good speed weeks. Even if we don’t have a good speed week, it doesn’t necessarily matter for Sunday. But learn what I need throughout the week, drafting decisions, learn from what I did in Talladega in the fall, where we were kind of in contention, and just be a little bit better on superspeedways.”

A lack of interest is clearly pervading the NASCAR garage. However, that may not be the only thing hindering William Byron’s performance this Sunday.

Another clash with Mother Nature?

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season started in a bizarre way. The Cook Out Clash race faced multiple delays due to extreme winter conditions. The main race turned into chaos as rain and sleet battered the Bowman Gray Stadium track. Now, as the season moves to the first points-paying race of the year, Mother Nature may not let go easily.

During the Daytona race weekend, an area of low pressure will be crossing the Southern U.S. This would draw showers and storms from Texas to Florida, the site of Daytona International Speedway. According to the Weather Channel, several models are predicting rain for race day. This ominous foreboding may force teams into a weather-related pit stop, though this could still change.

Rain delays have plagued the Daytona 500 before, like in 2025, 2022, 2021, 2020, and beyond.

Clearly, drivers and fans need to buckle up for another possible chaotic race. The focus will be especially on William Byron, who is gearing up for a historic attempt.