Top-seeded William Byron looks to kickoff championship chances at Darlington
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DARLINGTON, S.C. — William Byron understands, with five wins and a high seed for the NASCAR playoffs, the wonderful opportunity he has for a series championship. Byron also knows he doesn’t want to miss his chance to enjoy the ride.
He starts the 10-race title chase tied with Martin Truex Jr. for the top spot in the 16-team grid for the playoffs, which begins Sunday night with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Byron also enters having won at the track “Too Tough To Tame” last time the series was here in May.
“I’m 25. I feel like I have years left to keep driving,” Byron said. “I feel like this is an opportunity that’s a great one, but it’s one that I’m going to relish and enjoy. I’m going to enjoy that we’re in this position. It’s fun and exciting.”
And perhaps fleeting. The Hendrick Motorsports driver only has to look in the garage to see a couple of highly regarded teammates — 2020 series champ Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman — who didn’t make the playoff field because of injuries and missed races earlier in the year.
“I’m looking forward to having more (chances) down the road,” Byron said. “Maybe not next year. It’s cyclical, and maybe next year we’re not as strong. But I know we’ve built a foundation that can sustain itself.”
It certainly won’t be an easy path for Byron. Truex, the 2017 series champion, has won three times this season and has had success at Darlington, where he won the Southern 500 in 2016 and the spring race in 2021.
Truex said he is confident each week at every venue that he has a chance to win, something he felt during the title run six years ago.
“They are just doing a good job of pushing the right buttons and giving me what I need, which is really what this is all about,” he said.
The winner here, if he is among the 16 playoff qualifiers, advances into the second round of 12. The opening round continues next week at Kansas and finishes at Bristol.
The first playoff race always has been a bit of a wild card. Only four times in the 19 previous playoffs has the opening winner gone on to take the championship. And it’s never happened in the three times the playoffs have begun at Darlington. A season ago, Erik Jones surprised playoff drivers by winning the Southern 500 as an outsider.
Other contenders
Keep your eyes on a couple of usual contenders — Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson — and perhaps an unexpected pick — Roush Fenway Keselowski racer Chris Buescher.
Hamlin is tied with Kevin Harvick with 17 playoff appearances, most in NASCAR history, but has not been able to come away with the trophy. Hamlin has won twice this season and is seeded third.
Larson, the 2021 champion, has two victories this season and is the fourth seed.
Buescher could be the hottest driver in the field, having won three of the past five events, including at Daytona a week ago.
Bell on pole
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell will start the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs up front after winning the pole at the Southern 500 on Saturday.
Bell took his fourth pole of the season and third in the past eight races. He turned a fast lap of 29.065 seconds (169.193 mph) at Darlington Raceway.
“It definitely feels good,” Bell said. “Darlington is a place where it’s notoriously hard to pass so being up front is good deal.”
Bell starts besides JGR teammate Hamlin, second fastest on the 1.366-mile egg-shaped layout.
In all, playoff drivers took the first nine qualifying spots. Tyler Reddick was third, Ryan Blaney fourth, then Brad Keselowski, defending series champion Joey Logano, Harvick, Buescher and Michael McDowell.
Aric Almirola, in 10th, is the first non-playoff competitor in the lineup.
The two points leaders and playoff seeds, Byron and Truex Jr., wound up in the back of the pack. Byron will start 23rd and Truex 31st.