Byron Takes Cup Series Championship Lead In Stride

William Byron enters his car during qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

For the first time in his six-year career, William Byron showed up in Las Vegas this week atop the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings heading into the penultimate three-race Round of 8 that will decide which four drivers move forward to compete for the season title.

His six wins so far in 2023 is triple that of any previous NASCAR Cup Series season for the 25-year old Charlotte native. And he has won on all four tracks – in Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville, and Phoenix – that will close out the season schedule.

With a five-point advantage over regular season champ Martin Truex, Jr. entering this all-important three-race round of competition – and double the wins of any other driver in the series – Byron is considered a championship “favorite” by many.

“It’s been nice,” Byron said. “I think we’ve put a lot of work in to get to this point. I feel like it’s just been a slow evolution and process to get to this spot. I don’t really reflect a whole lot, but I am proud of the work we’ve put in and the fact we’ve gotten our race team to where it is. Now’s a good chance to show all we’ve done to this point.

“I’m excited for it, but I still have a lot of years ahead of me and I feel like I’m really young in this sport, so it’s just starting to click.”

As for his confidence level, particularly in this round of tracks where’s he’s been so good, Byron concedes he and the team have high expectations.

“I think the blueprint is there for success, but the thing I always caution is that things always change and evolve,” Byron said. “Other teams and drivers improve so we have to kind of take that next step at all these race tracks coming up, but it’s nice to have a blueprint of “we’ve been here before and we’ve been fast.”

Reddick Comfortable And Confident

Tyler Reddick has advanced to his first Playoff Round of 8 and he feels optimistic about his chances in this round to win a position into the Championship 4. Not only does he feel like the team could win a race and earn the automatic transfer, he’s confident the team can “point” its way in as well, if necessary.

Reddick is ranked seventh among the eight remaining championship hopefuls – but only eight points behind fourth place Kyle Larson.

“I think when you look at our speed … our ceiling is there, it’s just a matter of putting it together on the race track and one weekend at a time,” Reddick said.

“I feel good about the tracks we have up ahead and then Phoenix at the end of that race we were battling Larson and Byron for the win there too,” he added. “So I feel like we’re really strong at these last remaining tracks.”

Truex Back On Track

Martin Truex, Jr. won the regular season championship and has claimed three race trophies to date, but the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is still looking for his first top 10 in the Playoff stretch. He goes into the Round of 8 ranked only five points behind William Byron and says he’s got a lot of confidence in this slate of upcoming venues – Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville – as well as the championship Phoenix one-miler.

But while others may see his lack of Playoff top 10s as problematic, Truex said he’s got a lot of peace heading into this last round and remains optimistic that he’ll be racing for a second trophy in November.

He’s won at all four remaining venues. He’s the only multi-time winner among the Playoff drivers at Las Vegas claiming wins in 2017 and 2019. He won in 2017 in Homestead, has three trophies at Martinsville (2019, ’20, ’21) and claimed the 2021 victory at Phoenix.

“We’ve won races this year, we’ve won the regular season championship, just got to get back to things clicking,” said Truex, who could join Busch and Logano as the only multi-time champions in the series. “All it takes is having a good day today (in qualifying) and a good day tomorrow and we’re right back on track. We know what we can do. …I feel good about our team and where we’re at.”

NASCAR Cup Series
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV
South Point 400 – October 15, 2023

Sunday’s Starting Lineup

1. (20) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 186.335 mph.
2. (5) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 186.271 mph.
3. (24) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 186.181 mph.
4. (19) Martin Truex, Jr. (P), Toyota, 185.759 mph.
5. (17) Chris Buescher (P), Ford, 185.669 mph.
6. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 185.612 mph.
7. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 185.440 mph.
8. (45) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 185.382 mph.
9. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 185.268 mph.
10. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 185.166 mph.
11. (54) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
12. (12) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 0.000 mph.
13. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 0.000 mph.
14. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
15. (11) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 0.000 mph.
16. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
17. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 0.000 mph.
18. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 0.000 mph.
19. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 0.000 mph.
20. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
21. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.
22. (16) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
23. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
24. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 0.000 mph.
25. (42) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
26. (51) J.J. Yeley(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
27. (77) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
28. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
29. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.
30. (47) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
31. (78) B.J. McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
32. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford, 0.000 mph.
33. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 0.000 mph.
34. (15) Brennan Poole(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
35. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
36. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.