It was never going to be easy. Going into the 2025 Mobil 1 301, William Byron knew he’d have his work cut out for him at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After all, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has had a slow start to his playoff campaign, despite winning the ‘regular season championship’ earlier this year. Failing to break into the top-10 in any of his Round of 16 races left the No. 24 driver hungrier than ever to make his mark, and that’s exactly what he did at the ‘Magic Mile.’

But despite securing his best result in six races, Byron felt there was room for improvement, especially after Ryan Blaney’s dominance at New Hampshire. The 27-year-old is hoping to build on his podium finish and potentially fare even better at next weekend’s playoff race at Kansas Speedway.

William Byron gives credit where it’s due

William Byron showed a lightning-fast pace all weekend. The North Carolina-native looked quite comfortable right from the get-go at the 1.058-mile venue, despite having never finished inside the top-10 in his previous seven appearances at the venue. Toyota has generally dominated the track in the past, sweeping every Cup Series race at the ‘Magic Mile’ in the Next-Gen era, locking down all six stage wins, and leading 754 of 907 total laps, which comes to 83%. But this time around, something was different. Byron qualified in fifth place and even finished third at the end of Stages 1 and 2, highlighting a shift in dynamics.

But despite ending up third when the checkered flag was waved, William Byron felt there was room for improvement, even though he acknowledged the positives. The racer said, “We had a couple of weak runs in stage 1 and started stage 2. Once we kind of got that out of the way, I felt like we were really strong. Penske guys were super-fast. I felt like they were in another zip code. Other than that, we were really competitive. Just really proud of our team, RAPTOR Chevrolet. If we can just build on this, I feel like all of our short tracks are starting to come together.”

With just six races left before the season ends, time is running out for Byron to turn his fortunes around. The result in New Hampshire moved the Hendrick Motorsports driver 47 points above the cutline, but with races at Kansas and the Charlotte Roval remaining before the Round of 8 officially begins, the 27-year-old will be aiming to get back to Victory Lane. He even opened up about his target, going on to say, “It’s no breathing room because you’ve got to go out and execute every week. You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas in this deal. Hopefully, we can go to Kansas and be up front, contending for a win.”

That’ll be easier said than done, though. William Byron has never won at Kansas Speedway, despite finishing runner-up at last year’s Hollywood Casino 400. However, few would have predicted a career-best third-place finish at New Hampshire as well, and now that momentum is on his side, the racing driver might possibly secure a clutch result next Sunday. Having already won two races this year, could the two-time Daytona 500 winner make it three wins for the season next weekend? Time will tell.

William Byron opens up about his playoff shock

It’s not a situation William Byron thought he’d be in. After finishing on top of the table at Daytona International Speedway, the Hendrick Motorsports driver thought he would carry that momentum forward when the green flag dropped at Darlington during the playoffs. But call it ‘bad luck’ or simply an untimely drop in performance, the No. 24 Chevy driver, along with his teammates, has struggled to make their mark in the post-season so far, while Joe Gibbs Racing swept the Round of 16.

Sharing his thoughts about the first three postseason races, Byron said, “The start of the playoffs was a shock to us. I think, as good as we’ve run all year, there have been very few races where I felt like I would run worse than eighth, honestly. And then it felt like in the first round, we were scratching and clawing for top 10s. Yeah, the first round was a shock to us… There is still a lot of season left, though. It’s kind of a marathon within itself. There are so many steps to this deal, so the way this format is, you just have to keep advancing and hopefully you’re at your best when it counts.”

While Byron didn’t win a playoff race last year either, he did secure four consecutive top-five finishes after the Round of 16 and made it all the way to the Championship 4, finishing third in the final race of the season at Phoenix Raceway. Considering his season this time around, the Hendrick Motorsports driver will hope to do even better, potentially ending Team Penske’s dominance in the Next-Gen era once and for all. But that kind of run will only come with consistency, and after finishing third in New Hampshire, the 27-year-old will aim to keep the momentum going from this point on.