An Interview with William Byron:
Q1 : Alex Bowman just mentioned how nervous he was out there running in the Duels Thursday night. What was your experience like?
“Yeah, its nerve racking. It’s very different than anything I’ve ever done. I’m learning on the fly. The race car is fast, and its fun to have the 24 and some of the fan support that has come with it. I look forward to it..”
Q2 : What’s the balance between racing and schoolwork? You are still doing both. Are you going back to class tomorrow?
“My classes are online, so I can do it pretty much when I want. It’s really flexible as far as my schedule goes. I do it before I get to the race track it gives me a chance to get away from everything a little bit. I enjoy that part of it and Liberty University is a big sponsor of us so its great to have them on the car”
Q3 : Do you have any projects to do?
“All my work is due on Mondays, so I did all the work for this Monday last week before I came here.”
Q4 : Anything surprised you this week?
“Getting ready for qualifying, getting prepared for I, there were a little bit of nerves just thinking about doing my job. I didn’t want to screw anything up or do anything to cost our team. I’ve seen how hard my team has been working so I just wanted to do my job and show the speed that we had.”
Q5 : Drivers often say that no one puts more pressure on them they do. Considering the number you are carrying and the legacy of the organization you’re with, is that true?
“I would say so. I would say that the hard part was getting to this point, being in this car. The hard part was getting that opportunity, and now M H (Hendrick) and everyone, AXALTA, Liberty, everyone that’s pitching in to make this happen, that part is fun, and its exciting.”
Q6 : Are you, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott leaning on Jimmie Johnson or do you each bring something to the table?
“I think we’re all able to bring something. Feel like I get the most from Chase, just because we’re close in age, so I feel like we lean on each other the most and then Jimmie is obviously always there kind of surveying the rest of us. I think it’ll be more as the weeks go on, but we’ve kind of leaned on each other equally.”
Q7 : Are there any reasonable expectations for you for the Daytona 500?
“Reasonable expectation would be to just finish, but that’s going to take a lot. I’ve got to be aggressive and you can’t really hide at these kinds of racetracks, so you have to go out there and make sure you’re making moves and see who will work with you. I think the best thing for me to do is kind of do what I did here in the Xfinity car and keep in mind what the Cup car does differently, and hopefully combine all that together.”
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